About 9,500 homes remain without power in northern Scotland and the north-east of England, with dozens of schools closed for another day, as the effort to clear up after Storms Malik and Corrie continues.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) was at red alert status after the storms cut power to 114,500 customers in Scotland, with restorations hampered by continuing high winds.
By noon on Tuesday, power had been restored to 105,000 customers with about 9,500 customers remaining off supply, SSEN said. The main areas that continue to be affected are rural Aberdeenshire and the Angus border, as well as parts of Perthshire, the Highlands, Western Isles and the Moray Coast.
“Small pockets of customers” may not have power until Wednesday, SSEN said, “depending on the extent of damage found and the impact of weather on our teams’ ability to work safely”.
Many schools in the affected areas were unable to open because of lack of power and heating, including 37 in Aberdeenshire, seven in the Highlands and six in Angus.
In the north-east of England, 61 homes remained cut off on Monday night, according to Northern Powergrid. After the storms, 80,000 customers in the region lost supply, the firm said.
Andy Bilclough, its director of field operations, said on Monday night: “Our teams have got through a phenomenal amount of work today, which includes reconnecting around 17,000 customers that were impacted by Storm Corrie, and they are still out there now.
“Almost all of the work we have left to do is a blend of repair work that we discovered when we got to site, some difficult conditions that meant we could not complete the work today, or where we would have needed access to the property during the night but have agreed with the customer to complete the restoration tomorrow.”
Richard Gough, the director of distribution system operations at SSEN, said: ““Our teams have continued to make strong progress restoring power to customers impacted by Storms Malik and Corrie and all available resources have been deployed to support with restoration efforts.
“Although the cumulative impact of Storms Malik and Corrie has compounded the challenge, we have started our final push and aim to restore power to the vast majority of customers today. For the pockets of customers that will remain without supply into Wednesday, we are prioritising welfare and support, working closely with local resilience partners.”
