Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has today issued a Weather Warning in preparation for a period of wet and windy weather which could impact its electricity network in the north of Scotland on Friday and overnight into Saturday.

Named as Storm Erik by the Irish Met Office, SSEN's current weather model shows strong winds building across its north of Scotland network area from Friday afternoon, with gusts of up to 70mph expected in Argyll, Skye and the West Highlands. The main areas expected to be impacted are Argyll and West Perthshire, with gusts peaking around 4pm on Friday and lasting until around 2am on Saturday morning. The weather front will track through northern Aberdeenshire and the Moray coast as the low pressure system moves into the North Sea over the course of Saturday. There is also a risk of inland flooding due to heavy rain and the potential for coastal flooding as the high winds pass through.

In preparation, SSEN has enacted its resilience plans, increasing its standby resources in anticipation of potential damage, including arranging mobile generation in the areas expected to be worst affected. Its teams are proactively contacting customers on its Priority Services Register to offer extra assistance where required and are liaising with local resilience partners to help coordinate efforts to prepare for potential supply interruptions.

SSEN is also urging people to not 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 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.