We're ready to respond to Storm Éowyn

for the north of Scotland

for central southern England 

We're taking a number of additional steps to prepare for the arrival of Storm Éowyn early on Friday morning. This storm is forecast to be the worst of the winter so far, and disruption to the electricity network is expected. This afternoon, wemoved to its Red Alert status for the north of Scotland. This reflects the severity of the weather forecast, and our latest assessment of the potentially high impact this storm is expected to have on the network.

We've been monitoring the development of Storm Éowyn for a number of days as it’s strengthened and tracked further north than initially forecast. This forward planning means a number of additional measures are now in place to support you at this time.

Our response in detail
We're bringing in additional teams and contractors, meaning the size of our response team is around 10 times the usual levels. These teams will be deployed across the network to help support customers in the following ways: 

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

• More engineers are in place across the network where the impact is expected to be greatest; they’ll fix faults as safely and as quickly as they can.

• Teams in the customer contact centre are being bolstered significantly, to handle an expected increase in the volume of calls coming in from customers, and to respond to messages sent in via social media.

• Additional tree cutting teams will be deployed to assist engineers in accessing faults on the network; the high winds forecast means it’s likely many trees will come down, and this will cause access issues for SSEN’s teams and other essential services.

• Text messages have been sent to almost 170,000 of our more vulnerable customers in the north of Scotland, giving them help and advice on how to prepare in the event they lose power for a time. In addition, telephone calls are being made to the most vulnerable in those areas expected to be worst hit, to offer additional support.

The weather forecast
The Met Office has described Storm Éowyn as the worst of the winter so far. The Red wind warning the Met Office has issued includes areas of SSEN’s north of Scotland network, including Arran, Kintyre, and Islay. The rest of Scotland is covered by an amber weather warning for wind. The winds will come in from the west in the early hours of Friday morning and move across SSEN’s north of Scotland licence area as the day wears on.

In the Red Warning area, 80-90mph gusts are expected inland, with 100mph gusts possible on exposed western coasts, with peak winds expected from the late morning to early afternoon. As Éowyn pushes north-eastwards, the strong winds will move further north, affecting the rest of Scotland during Friday afternoon and evening. Gusts are expected to be widely in the region of 60-70mph, with 70-80mph likely in some places and 80-90mph possible on exposed coasts and hills.

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

“The Met Office’s prediction that this will be the most severe storm of the winter so far is supported by our own forecasts, and our assessments of the damaging impact this storm will have. We’re very well prepared at this time, taking a range of extra steps to respond to network damage as safely and quickly as we can.

“Customers should be prepared for the likelihood that these exceptionally strong winds may well disrupt their power supplies, but I want to reassure everyone we’ll get them reconnected as safely and quickly as we can. However, this may take some time, given the strength and spread of these exceptionally strong winds.

“I ask for your patience while we do this, as conditions for travelling to - and carrying out -repairs are likely to be very challenging. Please remember you can report faults to us by calling 105 at any time, or via the Power Track 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.