Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has today issued a weather warning in preparation for a period of bad weather that could impact its network regions in the north of Scotland and central southern England this weekend.
SSEN's current weather model shows a wet and windy weather front forecast to affect central southern England, with wind gusts of around 60mph predicted throughout Saturday 16 March, both on the coast and inland.
In the north of Scotland, the current weather model shows a period of heavy snowfall accompanied by wind gusts of up to 45mph throughout the course of the day on Saturday. The main areas expected to be affected are Perth, Angus, the north east and Argyll. In addition, a risk of lightning will also be present, along with a potential for 'line icing' where significant levels of snow and ice accumulates on overhead lines, causing them to break.
This combination of weather conditions has the potential to result in damage to SSEN's overhead line network through fallen trees and branches, wind-born debris and line icing, leading to the possibility of interruptions to power supplies.
In the north of Scotland, repairs may be delayed in areas where the snowfall is heaviest, due to blocked roads and other access issues.
In preparation, SSEN has enacted its well-established resilience plans, increasing its standby resources in anticipation of potential damage. SSEN is proactively contacting customers on its Priority Services Register to offer extra assistance where required and is liaising with local resilience partners to help coordinate efforts and ensure that everyone is prepared for any interruption to supplies should they occur.
SSEN is also encouraging its customers not to approach any damage to its equipment and instead, report it to SSEN by calling 105 or via its Power Track App and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.
Customers are also being encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of disruption to supplies by:
- Saving the emergency power cut number '105' to your phone to report any loss of supply or damage to the electricity network
- Downloading SSEN's Power Track app to give you details of power cuts and restoration times. You can also report power cuts and network damage through the Power Track app
- Going to SSEN's website where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to deal with a power cut, or to chat live to one of SSEN's advisors via its Webchat service
- Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates
Customers can register for SSEN's Priority Services Register(PSR) if they require extra assistance. 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 children under the age of five
- Are over the age of 60
- Or for any other reason feel they may need extra support during a power cut
To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.