An update on our progress reconnecting customers after the "strongest storm in years".

We continue to make good progress to repair damage and reconnect customers following Storm Éowyn.  This was the worst storm to hit Scotland in recent years, and it’s been described by the Met Office as the “strongest storm in ten years”.

As of 19:30 this evening, more than 78,000 of our customers have been reconnected, and teams are continuing to work hard to restore the remaining 12,000 households.

The main areas that continue to be affected are Argyll and Bute and the Kintyre peninsula, southern Perthshire and the Trossachs. This broadly reflects the areas that were subject to Friday’s rare, severe Red Warning for wind that was issued by the Met Office.  

Several hundred engineers have been working across all areas of the network throughout the day to repair faults and to fully assess the damage. The remaining faults that teams are working on have involved multiple points of damage, and in many cases will require complex reconstruction before all customers can be safely reconnected.

⏰ Restoration times

We expect to make continued good progress tonight and tomorrow restoring the vast majority of customers.

However, due to the extent of the damage in yesterday’s Red Warning area and the complexity of repairs required to restore supplies, some customers in these parts are expected to be off supply until Monday.  Restoration times will be reviewed and communicated to customers based on the latest picture. SSEN’s teams are proactively contacting those affected to provide updates and offer support where required, particularly to those on the Priority Services Register.

In those other regions still affected by Storm Éowyn, SSEN expects to restore power to all customers by the end of tonight, with engineers working into the evening to make further repairs and restore supplies.

🥘 Looking after our customers

A large welfare operation continues to support customers in communities where the reconnection operation is still underway.  A number of vans serving free hot food and drink have been operating since breakfast time; these are being moved to other areas once power is restored. The vans will remain open into this evening, and up-to-date information on the can be found on SSEN’s social media channels (‘Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks’ on Facebook, and ‘SSENCommunity’ on X, Instagram, and BlueSky.)

Arrangements have also been made with some local businesses to provide hot food and drinks. Details of these locations will also be provided via social media.

SSEN’s Customer Contact Centre has taken calls from a total of over 12,500 customers, and a dedicated team has been in touch with the most vulnerable in affected communities, to provide them with additional support. Meanwhile, the British Red Cross and MERT Highland have been helping SSEN's teams visit more vulnerable customers to check in on their welfare.

As part of SSEN’s support package, customers who will be without 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 their 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 they’re without power for over 24 hours. Support with booking accommodation can be provided if needed.   If a power cut is estimated to last beyond 48 hours, all customers can benefit from this support. Customers can claim this in the same way as food and drink.

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

“We would like to thank all customers for their patience and understanding while our teams have responded to the impact caused by Storm Éowyn.

“Throughout the course of today, dozens of teams across our network region have made good progress, carrying out repairs and restoring supplies.  Alongside this massive response, we’ll continue to support our customers who remain off supply through a range of welfare provisions.

“We expect to restore power to all customers who are outside yesterday’s red alert area by the end of the night, but due to the extent of damage caused by yesterday’s exceptional storm, and the complex nature of the repairs needed inside the red alert zone, some customers will remain off supply for at least another night. We’re working with our Local Resilience Partners to support these customers, especially those on our Priority Services Register. 

“We’re in contact with affected customers and we’ll provide them with a realistic estimate of when their lights are likely to go back on as soon as we’re able.  I would also encourage anyone awaiting reconnection make use of the extensive welfare support we’ve put in place for them.”

📞 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.