We're ready to respond as Storm Floris moves across Scotland

We've mounted a large response ahead of Storm Floris, which is now moving across Scotland. This relatively rare summer storm is bringing sustained storm-force winds to most of our north of Scotland network area, and disruption to the electricity network is expected. Several hundred extra team members are involved in our heightened response.

We've already been monitoring the development of Storm Floris for several days, and have been operating at our heightened ‘Yellow Alert’ status over the weekend. This reflects the latest assessments of the significant impact this storm could have on the network. Over the past few days, the storm’s track has shifted, and projected wind gust speeds have increased; these could now be as high as 100mph in exposed areas.

👷 How we’re responding - in detail

We've already drafted in additional teams to further bolster our response to this storm. Hundreds of extra people have been stood up, and planned network maintenance has been cancelled so repairs can be prioritised. These additional colleagues are being deployed to help support customers in the following ways:   

• Extra network engineers are in the control room, to remotely reroute the network around faults that occur. In many cases, this can be done quickly, meaning briefer disruption to supplies.
  
  

• More field engineers are in place across the network where the impact is forecast to be greatest; they’ll fix faults as quickly possible, once it’s safe to do so.  This expanded operation is being supported by colleagues from SSEN Transmission, which runs the Electricity Transmission network in the north of Scotland.
  
  

• Numbers in the customer contact centre have been bolstered, to handle an increase in the number of calls from customers, and to respond to messages sent via social media.
  
  

• Additional tree-cutting teams are ready to help engineers access faults on the network; the high winds forecast means that trees – which are currently in full leaf – are at greater risk, and this has the potential to cause access issues, not only for ourselves, but other critical services too.
  
  

• Text messages have already been sent to over 100,000 of our more vulnerable customers, giving them help and advice on how to prepare in the event they lose power for a time. In addition, individual telephone calls were made on Sunday to the most vulnerable people in those areas expected to be worst hit, with offers of further, tailored support. 
   

💨 Monday's weather forecast 

A deep area of low pressure will slowly move across much of Scotland during the day. Argyll, the Highlands, the Western Isles, Perthshire, Angus, Moray and Aberdeenshire are likely to experience the strongest winds, and gusts in exposed areas of 100mph are possible. The Aberdeenshire area could experience sustained storm-force winds tonight and into the early hours of Tuesday.

The Met Office has upgraded its own weather warnings; an Amber Weather Warning for Wind is in place from 1000 to 2300 today for most of Scotland, and a lesser Yellow Wind Warning for the whole of the country is due to remain in place until the end of tonight. A separate Yellow Wind Warning for Orkney and Shetland is in place from midnight on Tuesday through to 0800.

SSEN’s Director of Customer Operations for the north of Scotland, Andy Smith, says: 

“Storm Floris is a relatively rare summer storm, and the weather forecast suggests it’ll have the potential to cause significant disruption to power supplies throughout today, and into the early hours of Tuesday. Its severity has increased over the several days we’ve been monitoring it, and over the course of the weekend we put in place our well-rehearsed storm plans.

“We’ve got hundreds of additional team members ready to support our response. As soon as it’s safe to do so, they’ll quickly set about repairing network damage. At the height of summer, we’ve mounted an operation that’s comparable in size to those we have when a storm hits in the depths of winter, and I want to reassure our customers we’re well prepared to respond to whatever Storm Floris brings.

“Please remember you can report faults to us by calling 105 at any time, or via the PowerTrack website or app.” 

📞 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
• Visiting 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 to chat live to 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.