SSEN Distribution has moved to Yellow Alert status in anticipation of gale force winds forecast to impact our north of Scotland operating region from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday. This weather front has been named as Storm Dudley by the Met Office.
The storm is expected to bring wind gusts in excess of 80mph in the Western Isles with the potential for 70-75mph gusts in exposed areas in Argyll, the Inner Hebrides and the west coast. As the storm moves from west to east overnight, winds are forecast to reach 65mph across inland Argyll and western parts of Perthshire. This is expected to cause damage to our infrastructure from fallen trees and other wind-borne debris.
Other areas, including the North East which saw the brunt of recent storms, are expected to be less impacted, with gusts of around 50mph possible.
Winds will remain strong across most of northern Scotland during Thursday, particularly in the Western Isles, before dropping by evening. A Met Office yellow wind warning remains in place across the north of Scotland for both Wednesday and Thursday, with an amber warning in place across parts of the UK, including Argyll and the Inner Hebrides.
In preparation for this storm, we have enacted our well-established resilience plans, and are both increasing and moving additional resources to key locations in anticipation of any potential network damage. This includes bringing in additional operations teams from contracting partners and ensuring island locations and back-up generating plant are fully resourced.
We have issued proactive communications to over 100,000 customers on our Priority Service Register to warn of the upcoming weather and are calling those in high categories of vulnerability. We continue to coordinate with local resilience partners to aid preparations and support any planning for welfare requirements.
If you see any damaged equipment, please keep a safe distance and report it to us by calling 105 or via our Power Track App, and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.
Customers are being encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of disruption to supplies by:
- Saving the emergency power cut number – 105 – to their phone to report power cuts or damage to the electricity network
- Downloading our Power Track app which provides details of power cuts and restoration times. Customers can also report power cuts and network damage through the Power Track app
- Going to our 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 our advisors via the Webchat service
- Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates
Priority Services Register
Customers are eligible for the Priority Services Register if they:
- Are deaf or hard of hearing
- Have a disability
- Live with children under five
- Are blind or partially sighted
- Have a chronic illness
- Use medical equipment/aids reliant on electricity
- Are over 60
- Are categorised at ‘high risk’ or ‘extremely high risk’ of severe illness from coronavirus
For more information on our Priority Services Register, click here or call 0800 294 3259.
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