Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has restored electricity supplies to more than 20,000 customers as Storm Bronagh brought gale-force winds to its network region in central southern England overnight.
As of 10am this morning around 700 customers across the network area remain without power, with parts of Dorset, Berkshire and the M4 corridor the main areas affected.
Wind gusts in excess of 50mph were observed across the network area, approaching 60mph in coastal regions. The winds were accompanied by heavy rain and, with trees in full leaf, this resulted in some damage to SSEN's overhead network from fallen trees and wind-borne debris.
All faults have now been located and engineers are continuing to work hard to safely repair damage and restore supplies as soon as possible through the course of today. Welfare facilities, including hot food and drinks are being organised for locations where required.
Strong winds with gusts of up to 45mph are forecast to continue into this afternoon, with a further weather front expected to move in over the course of Sunday. SSEN will continue to monitor weather conditions and remains ready to respond to any further damage.
Craig Gilroy, SSEN's Director of Customer Operations, said:
"We were well prepared for this weather event and our network has held up very well to the gale-force winds overnight. We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding at this time, and for those who are without power, assure them that our teams will continue to do everything possible to restore their supplies as safely and as quickly as possible."
"With high winds forecast to continue throughout today and return on Sunday, we will continue to monitor conditions and are ready to respond to any damage. If any of our customers do come across any damage to our equipment, we ask that they don't approach it as it may still be live. Instead, call us on the single emergency number 105 and we'll investigate as soon as possible."
Prior to the storm arriving, SSEN enacted its well-established resilience plans, which included increasing resource levels, moving people and equipment to strategic locations and making proactive contact with customers on its Priority Service Register. Preparations included:
- Over 900 field staff mobilised to respond promptly to damage to SSEN's network
- Mobile generation sets strategically deployed across SSEN's network region to assist with restoration efforts
- Over 200 contact centre staff are available to respond promptly to customer enquiries
- SSEN's teams proactively contacted 225,000 Priority Service Customers to prepare for bad weather and offer extra support where required
- Welfare facilities are on standby to support customers affected by any 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 can prepare 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, or to chat live to one of SSEN's advisors via its Webchat service
- Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates