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Network companies Northern Powergrid and Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) are battling high winds from Storm Gertrude to reconnect customers across the North of England and Scotland today.
Northern Powergrid has restored power to 6,500 of the 7,500 of its customers in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and County Durham who have so far been left without power since the storm hit the UK early this morning.
It said it has restored power by diverting electricity through alternative routes through the network and said its engineers “will continue to work throughout the day” to restore power to those customers still offline.
Across the areas of Scotland served by SHEPD 7,231 customers are currently without power.
Both companies said the majority of damage is from strong winds causing windborne debris and falling trees to damage overhead power lines.
Wind speeds are reaching 90mph in the Western Isles, Skye and North West Highlands, and expected to increase to more than 100mph in Orkney and Shetland throughout the day.
Northern Powergrid said the wind speed is making it difficult for linesmen to climb and repair the damage to overhead lines while SHEPD said blizzards and lightening are adding to the “challenging conditions” facing its engineering teams.
Storm Gertrude is expected to continue to batter the North and Scotland until around 6pm this evening. It is the latest in a series of storms this winter that have caused power cuts for thousands of customers, especially in the area served by Electricity North West.
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