Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has made considerable progress today to reconnect customers in central southern England following Storm Darragh.
This storm was both severe and long-lasting, with 70 mph gusts which are usually confined to the coasts reaching far inland. We’ve deployed all available resources to reconnect as many customers as possible by the end of Sunday.
With all Met Office weather warnings now expired, conditions are easing, and work is progressing well to reconnect the remaining 4,140 properties as safely and quickly as we can.
Given the volume of localised faults affecting smaller numbers of customers, we expect the restoration for around 900 customers who lost supplies on Saturday 7 December to go into Monday. We’re proactively giving those customers help and guidance at this time.
Our response
As of 7pm on Sunday, 82,151 customers have had their supplies successfully restored.
A 900-strong team has been working all day to fix faults, remove fallen trees, and provide customers with advice and support.
The severity of this storm – by far the worst of the winter so far – caused widespread damage at points of the network and made getting to faults and working at heights challenging at times.
Our help for customers
Throughout the storm, we are supporting our customers in a range of ways. We’re regularly calling our most vulnerable Priority Services Register customers, to offer them practical help and support.
We’ve dispatched vans serving hot food and drinks to several communities where work to restore supplies is still underway; these vans have already served almost 4,000 meals to customers over the past couple of days. Details of locations and opening times are being shared on SSEN’s Facebook and X channels.
As part of a wider support package, customers who’ve had no power for more than 12 hours are entitled to £30 per person for every day without power, to cover the cost of food and drink. People should keep hold of receipts and claim costs back at www.ssen.co.uk/stormclaim
In addition, customers on SSEN’s Priority Service Register can claim reasonable costs for alternative accommodation if it’s expected they will be without power for over 24 hours. If customers are eligible for this, we’ll contact them to let them know, and provide support for those who may find this process difficult. If a power cut is estimated to last beyond 48 hours, all customers can benefit from this support.
Eliane Algaard, SSEN’s Director of Customer Operations for central southern England, says:
“Darragh has been a severe and sustained storm, but we’ve made good progress today to reconnect many more customers. We’ve been providing them with updates on when they can expect to be reconnected, and we’ve deployed every resource at our disposal to reconnect the significant majority of homes which began the day without power.
“However, the number of localised faults this storm has caused means we won’t manage to reconnect everyone tonight. The work to get everyone back on will continue until late this evening and begin again at first light tomorrow. I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding while we do this as safely and quickly as we can.”
📞 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.
Support during a power cut
To keep updated with any power cuts across our network, 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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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
Dealing with a power cut
If you are currently experiencing a power cut, we know this can be a difficult time. That's why wee'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, friends, 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.
Power Track
