Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) continues to make good progress in restoring power to customers following the impact of Storm Ali.

As of 8pm today, SSEN has successfully restored power to over 23,000 homes, with around 1,800 homes currently off supply. The majority of damage has been caused by fallen trees and wind-borne debris striking the overhead line network and instances of lightning.

The main areas that continue to be impacted are rural locations across Angus and Perthshire where there has been significant tree related damage to the overhead network. SSEN's teams will continue to work into the evening to restore as many homes still without power as possible. For those customers who may remain off supply overnight, SSEN's teams continue to maintain contact to offer hot meals and welfare provisions where required.

Wind gusts in excess of 70mph, rising to 90mph in exposed areas, have been recorded through the course of today. Although the worst of the weather has now passed, SSEN will remain on Yellow Alert until power has been restored to all customers.

Dale Cargill, Director of Customer Operations, said:

"Our network has stood up well to the challenging weather conditions and I would like to thank our customers again for their patience as our teams continue to work hard to restore supplies. We will continue to work into the night to restore power as many homes as possible who still remain off supply."

"We would like to apologise to anyone who remains off supply overnight and would like to assure anyone affected that our teams will be back out from first light to restore power as soon as possible."

"We continue to offer welfare provisions where required to those who remain off supply and if anyone is concerned about the potential disruption to supplies for themselves or others, particularly family members of neighbours who may need extra support, I would encourage them to give our teams a call on 105."

"I would also urge members of the public not to approach any damage to our equipment and instead, report it either by calling 105 or via our PowerTrack App and our teams will investigate as soon as possible."

In preparation for Storm Ali, SSEN enacted its well-established resilience plans, increasing its standby resources in anticipation of potential damage to its network and moved its teams and equipment to the main areas due to be impacted.

  • Over 600 field staff are ready to respond promptly to damage to SSEN's network - this includes over 120 tree cutters
  • Mobile generation sets have been strategically deployed across SSEN's network region to assist with restoration efforts
  • Back-up generation stations on the inner Hebrides are on standby to help maintain supplies in the event of damage to circuits that supply the islands
  • Over 150 contact centre staff are available to respond promptly to customer enquiries
  • SSEN's teams have already proactively contacted over 125,000 Priority Service Customers to offer extra support where required
  • Welfare facilities, including catering vans, are on standby to support customers affected by potential disruptions to supplies
  • SSEN continues to liaise with local resilience partners to help coordinate efforts and ensure that everyone is prepared for any interruption to supplies should they occur

Customers are encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of disruption to supplies by:

  • Saving the new Freephone emergency power cut number '105' to your phone to use if your power goes off, or if you see any damage to the electricity network
  • Downloading SSEN's Power Track app to give you details of power cuts and restoration times and to report faults or damage to SSEN's network
  • Going to SSEN's website for advice and information on how to prepare for a possible loss of power
  • Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates

In the event of an interruption in power supplies, SSEN's customer service team will proactively contact customers on its Priority Services Register (PSR) to offer extra assistance, where required. People can qualify for the PSR if they:

  • Are dependent on electricity for home medical care
  • Have a chronic illness or short term medical condition
  • Are disabled
  • Have special communication needs
  • Have children under the age of five
  • Are over the age of 60

To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.