Yellow Alert

We're now at Yellow Alert in the north of Scotland ahead of storm-force winds forecast for the weekend. This status reflects our heightened level of preparedness and our latest assessment of the winds’ potential impact.  

💨 The weather forecast 

Our weather forecast currently shows sustained very high winds expected to sweep across much of Scotland over the coming weekend.

On Saturday, gusts of between 75 – 85 mph are expected across the west coast, the north of Scotland, and Orkney and Shetland, reaching their peak in the late afternoon and early evening.  

Wind speeds are expected to drop slightly on Sunday, but sustained gusts of up to 60mph are forecast across parts of Aberdeenshire. There’s also an expectation of gusts peaking at around 70mph across Argyll and the Highlands over the course of the day. 

We’ll continue to closely monitor our own forecasts and those from the Met Office during this period. The Met Office has issued its own warnings for wind for the weekend.

👷 How SSEN is responding  

We’ve been monitoring this weather system as it’s developed over the past few days, and we’ve been planning our response accordingly to ensure we have our staff deployed in areas where winds look more likely to damage the network.

Ahead of the high winds arriving, expanded teams in our Customer Contact Centres are fully prepared to take customers’ calls. They’re getting in touch with our most vulnerable customers by phone and have already contacted nearly 60,000 people on our Priority Services Register ahead of the weekend to offer them help and advice.

We’ll continue to watch this period of weather closely as it develops and will issue further updates depending on the forecast.  

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

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

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“We’ve been monitoring this forecast stormy weather for some days, and as its track and intensity has developed, we’ve prepared a heightened level of response.

“I’d like to reassure our customers that we’re well prepared for these winds arriving, with additional teams in our depots, Control Room, and Customer Contact Centre ready to respond. If your power supply is affected, you can keep up-to-date through our PowerTrack website and app or the 105 helpline to help give you an accurate time of restoration.

“Meanwhile, our Control Room teams will be ready to reconfigure the network to get customers back on, and our field-based engineers are on standby to fix any faults as safely and quickly as they 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
  • 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.

  • 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.