Power restored to more than 60,000 homes after Storm Floris causes 'considerable' damage

Power has been restored to more than 60,000 homes after Storm Floris caused “considerable” damage on Monday.

The amber weather warning was issued for much of the country, lasting from 10am until 11pm. A second yellow alert, covering the whole of Scotland, was in place until midnight on Monday.

A third yellow weather warning was in force covering Orkney and Shetland until 8am on Tuesday.

In Wick, wind speeds of 82mph were recorded, with 81mph in the Fair Isle and 75mph in Tiree.

More than 500 of SSEN’s engineers and field staff, including teams who have travelled up from SSEN’s south of England network region, are being assisted by around 200 people from contract partners and other network operators.

Live

Storm Floris: Fallen trees block railway and 22,000 homes without power

ScotRail warned passengers that disruption is expected to continue due to the clear-up operation following ‘unseasonably’ strong winds on Monday.

A full assessment of the network and the damage caused by Storm Floris has been carried out. The SSEN has confirmed complex repairs will take place at multiple points.

Work is still ongoing to reconnect a further 11,400 properties.

SSEN’s Director of Customer Operations for the north of Scotland, Andy Smith, said: “Storm Floris has been unusually powerful, especially for a storm at this time of year. It’s brought down many trees that have endured several previous storms, and it’s caused some network damage.

“Today, we’ve been able to inspect the network from the air and from the ground, and we now have a complete picture of the extent of the damage. There’s a considerable ongoing task to restore all customers’ supplies, but we have an 800-strong team whose priority is to make repairs as safely and quickly as they can, keep customers updated, and support those awaiting reconnection.

“I’d like to thank our customers for their understanding and patience while we go about this massive task; we’re doing our best to give people realistic, informed estimates of when we’ll get their power back on. I’m also grateful to the teams from our contract partners and other network operators for supporting our effort.”