We’re moving to Weather Warning status in central southern England as high winds are forecast to move across the region on New Year’s Day. This change in status reflects our increased level of preparedness and latest assessment of this weather’s potential impact over a 24-hour period.
💨 The weather forecast
High winds coming from the south west will move across the central southern England region from early morning on Wednesday 1 January. Wind gusts are forecast to increase into the afternoon; reaching over 50mph inland and up to 70mph in coastal areas, bringing with them the potential for damage to the electricity network and power cuts.
We’ll continue to closely monitor our own forecasts, along with those from the Met Office during this period. The Met Office has issued its own Yellow Weather Warnings for wind over the coming days.
👷 How SSEN is responding
We’re activating our well-rehearsed contingency plans and bringing in additional teams to deal with any damage to the network and subsequent faults, which may interrupt customers’ power supplies.
We’ll continue to monitor the weather forecast closely and will issue further updates depending on the forecast.
📞 Help and advice
If you see any damage to our equipment, please stay back, don’t touch it and instead report it to us directly by calling 105, or via our Power Track website, 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
- Visit our Power Track Website to give you details of power cuts and restoration times. You can also report power cuts and network damage through Power Track.
- Visiting the "Preparing for a power cut" section on our website, where there is a wealth of advice and information, or chat live with one of our advisors via the Webchat service
Customers are also eligible for our Priority Services Register (PSR) 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.
To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.
How to get prepared
In preparation for any potential power cuts, we are encouraging our customers to save the emergency power cut number 105 and to follow us on Facebook and Twitter (ssencommunity) for regular updates.
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Register for extra support during a power cut
Priority Services Register
We all rely on electricity day to day for various things, but for some, a power cut can be worrying or difficult. That’s why we offer extra help and support during a power cut. Registering for our Priority Services helps us to help you when you need it most. All our priority services are free. -
View our tips and advice to help you during a power cut
Preparing for a power cut
With bad weather on the way, we've put together some helpful tips and advice to help you during a power cut. You can also download our useful resources to share with your family and neighbours. -
Report a power cut or damage to our network through our map
Power Track
You can stay updated and track the progress of any faults in your area on our Power Track map or report damage to our network. You can also follow the progress of planned interruptions as well as find the nearest EV charge point if you have an electric vehicle that needs charging during a power cut.