Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has moved to Yellow Alert status as high winds from Storm Eunice are forecast to affect central southern England on Friday (18 February).

Named by the Met Office, Storm Eunice is expected to begin moving across central southern England from 10am on Friday morning, with wind speeds expected to build across SSEN’s southern distribution areas with initial westerly winds of up to 55mph. Between 12 noon and 4pm on Friday, gusts are forecast to rise to in excess of 70mph, before receding to below 50mph around 6pm.

In preparation for this unsettled weather, and the potential for some impact earlier in the week through Storm Dudley, we have enacted our well-established resilience plans, and we are both increasing and moving additional resources to key locations in anticipation of any potential damage, including teams from our contract partners. We are also in contact with local resilience partners to aid preparations.

Customers on our Priority Services Register are being texted proactively by SSEN customer advisors in advance of Storm Eunice. We will continue to monitor weather forecasts and provide updates if the situation changes.

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 SSEN’s 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 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
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.

We will continue to monitor the weather as forecasts change and update our plans accordingly.

About this author

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks

We are the electricity Distribution Network Operator (DNO) responsible for delivering power to over 3.8 million homes and businesses across central southern England and the north of Scotland. We serve some of the most diverse and unique geographies across the UK, and keep customers and communities connected whilst developing the flexible electricity network vital to achieving net zero.