Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) continues to make good progress in restoring customer supplies impacted by the adverse weather in central southern England.

Since 6am Sunday morning, engineers have restored power to over 57,000 customers. As of 6pm today, around 200 customers remain without power in Oxfordshire.

SSEN fully expects to restore power to all remaining customers this evening. All customers have been contacted and offered welfare facilities.

Extra resources were diverted to these areas today to restore supplies to customers as quickly and safely as possible. Difficulty of access and the discovery of multiple points of damage on power lines has increased the complexity of repairs and delayed restoration efforts.

Welfare vans, serving free hot food and drinks, are currently in the following locations:

  • Yanworth Village, Opposite Yanworth Farm, GL54 3LQ
  • White Hart pub, Wytham, OX2 8QA
  • Ascott Village shops, OX7 6FY
  • The George Pub car park, GL7 4HN
  • Thame Road, Bicester, OX25 1TE

Heavy snow and winds of up to 70mph caused damage to SSEN's overhead network, leading to disruption to customer supplies.The main areas affected were Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and parts of Berkshire. Access issues, including a number of road closures, hampered efforts to carry out repairs.

In preparation for yesterday's weather event, SSEN drafted in extra resources, with over 850 frontline and support staff on duty, and moved equipment to areas it expected to be most affected. Over 143,000 customers on its Priority Service Register were also proactively contacted to offer extra help and support.

Craig Gilroy, Director of Customer Operations for SSEN, said:

"Our teams continue to make good progress in restoring power to the last remaining homes affected by yesterday's extreme weather and we fully expect all customers to have their power restored this evening."

"I would like to apologise to any customers who are without power and thank them for their patience while our engineers worked hard in extremely challenging conditions. Anyone without power should make use of the free welfare facilities we have on offer. Customers can also call us on the national power cut helpline, 105, for an update or if they are concerned about a vulnerable family member or neighbour."

A final update will be provided at 11pm.