Updated: SSE battles to restore power to 45,000 Scottish households

SSE engineers were battling to restore power to around 45,000 households left without electricity following storm damage to the network on on Friday evening.

Severe weather battered the much of northern and western Scotland, with wind speeds of more than 110 miles per hour damaging the electricity network leading to widespread power cuts to more than 97,000 properties.

By 16:45 on Friday, SSE said the staff of its subsidiary Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) has reconnected 52,000 homes.

SHEPD’s head of operations Rodney Grubb said: “We are facing a monumental task in getting to the damaged equipment. Trees and branches have made some rural roads impassable.

“We are also having to remove airborne debris tangled up in our power lines. And then there is the added problem of fading daylight, strong winds and rain.

“We will work as long as we can but working in the dark can be potentially dangerous. It is regrettable that some of our customers may be left without power overnight.”

SHEPD staff were forced to abandon engineering work in the early hours of Friday due to the “extremely challenging and potentially dangerous” and resumed work at 6:00 Friday morning.

Rural areas and the Western Isles seem to have been the worst hit with more than 9,000 left without power, whiel 9,880 homes are without power in the rural areas around Dingwall, according to the latest statement from the company.

Ahead of the storm SHEPD began operating on a ‘yellow alert’, mobilising a thousand staff across Scotland on Thursday, particularly in rural areas which are most vulnerable to network damage.

In addition staff from SHEPD’s sister company in England, Southern Electric Power Distribution, have been deployed to battle the damage in Scotland alongside external contractors.

SSE said it bolstered staffing levels in customer call centres on Thursday ahead of the anticipated storm.