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SSEN teams restore power to all homes impacted by Storm Otto

Power has been restored to more than 43,000 homes since Friday.

Strong winds caused power outages and fallen trees when Strom Otto hit the north and north-east on Friday. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.
Strong winds caused power outages and fallen trees when Strom Otto hit the north and north-east on Friday. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

All homes in Aberdeenshire, Highlands and Moray have been reconnected to power following Storm Otto.

The storm caused widespread outages for more than 43,000 homes when it hit on Friday.

As winds of up to 120mph were recorded across the region, public transport, schools and utility services were disrupted due to fallen power lines.

Scottish and Southern Electrical Networks (SSEN) distributed 750 workers to reconnect homes with the “final push” to restore power in rural areas carried out on Sunday.

As of this evening, power has been successfully restored to all impacted properties.

More than 750 workers have been carrying out repairs since Storm Otto. Supplied by SSEN.

More than 200 faults

Mark Rough, operations director at SSEN Distribution, thanked customers for their patience, and all resilience partners for supporting communities.

He said: “Whilst the impact of Storm Otto was not as prolonged as that of other storms experienced last winter, with sustained wind speeds in excess of 70mph and storm-force gusts of 85mph across the north east, in some areas higher than Storm Arwen, impacts were unavoidable, and we were fully prepared for damage to our overhead line infrastructure.

“I would like to recognise and publicly thank our field and support staff alongside the line crews from other network operators and contractors who worked to restore over 200 faults and reconnect supplies as quickly as possible, often delivering ahead of targets.

“With all customers now reconnected, our focus turns to repairing remedial damage and our teams will continue working on the network in the coming days to restore it to full operation.

“In doing this, we will try to minimise the need for any planned interruptions, but if we do need to turn off your power for a short period, we’ll let you know in advance.”

Fallen trees could have impacted power lines leading to many residents being without power. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

What happened?

SSEN issued a yellow alert ahead of the storm, with resilience plans in place to combat power outages.

Damage was still extensive in some areas but was not severe on the core network due to work carried out in the aftermath of major storms last year.

Power outages were first reported at around 5am on Friday with residents waking up to no electricity.

Schools across Aberdeenshire and the Highlands were forced to close due to the weather and lack of power.

More than 750 workers – some support coming from other electricity network operators – worked over the weekend to respond to more than 200 high voltage faults.

About 95% of homes were reconnected within the first 24 hours.

Anyone who remains without power is asked to contact 105.

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