Sunday 8 February, 11pm update
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has restored power to over 70,000 homes in central southern England as it continues to respond to the impact of Storm Ciara.
As of 11pm tonight, around 8,000 homes currently remain off supply. The majority of damage has been caused by uprooted trees and wind-borne debris damaging overhead power lines following wind gusts in excess of 75mph recorded across SSEN's network area.
An 800-strong SSEN team has been working tirelessly to restore power to customers through the course of today. Due to ongoing challenging weather conditions resulting in a significant number of additional faults, around 2,000 homes in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire will be restored tomorrow morning.
SSEN's teams continue to maintain contact with customers who will remain off supply overnight and have offered hot meals, drinks and alternative accommodation where possible. Over 60 Customer and Community Advisors and volunteers are active in the community and remain in close contact with resilience partners to coordinate welfare provision.
The next update will be provided at 8.30am tomorrow (10 February).
Stuart Hogarth, Director of Customer Operations at SSEN, said:
"Storm Ciara was forecast to be the most significant weather event to impact the south of England for a number of years and this has proven to be the case. Our 800-strong team is making good progress in restoring power to customers impacted, but strengthening winds at the 'tail' of the storm and ongoing strong gusts have resulted in a significant number of additional network faults this evening.
"Due to the extent of network damage and current challenging conditions, some properties will be restored through the course of tomorrow morning. We would like to apologise to anyone who remains off supply overnight and would like to reassure our customers that our teams will be back out from first light to restore power as quickly as possible.
"We are prioritising restoration based on the length of interruption and continue to contact customers who will be without power overnight to offer welfare facilities and additional support. If you, or someone you know, is in a vulnerable situation, please contact us on the power cut helpline, 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 Power Track App and our teams will investigate as soon as possible."
For more information on SSEN's Priority Services Register, please click here or call 0800 294 3259.