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Thousands of north Scotland homes without power as storm hits

SHEPD engineers working to restore power
SHEPD engineers working to restore power

An estimated 1700 homes across the north-east have woken up to no power after a Storm Frank brought torrential rain and gale force wind.

Gusts of up to 70mph  have besieged the region overnight.

The Met Office issued an amber warning for rain in the Grampian region yesterday which remains in place until around 3pm today.

Meanwhile a yellow warning for wind has also been issued across the area.

Peterhead saw the strongest gusts of the night with gale force winds of 70mph shortly before 6am this morning.

Inverurie was hit by 67mph winds and the socks at Aberdeen International Airport had to contend with 61mph winds.

Areas where homes lost power include Kintore, Cruden Bay Fraserburgh, New Deer, Dunecht, New Aberdour, Buckie, Kintore and Sunnybrae (Durris).

Engineers have been out since 6:30am mending physical damage of the overhead network (powerlines) due to high winds from Storm Frank.

An SSE spokesperson said: “Around 1,700 homes are without power and have been throughout the night.

“We give our apologies to our customers.

“This has been caused by the high winds.

“We are working as hard as we can and all our engineers are out.”

Almost 5,500 homes have been left without power across the north of Scotland.

SSE said the cuts, caused by Storm Frank, were mostly in the north- east, Argyll and the Inner Hebrides.

The Met Office has issued an amber “be prepared” warning for Wednesday covering all mainland regions with the exception of the Highlands.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has issued more than 60 flood warnings and 14 flood alerts.

Some residents have been evacuated in Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway, as the River Cree threatens to burst its banks.

A rest centre has been set up in Douglas Ewart High School. The local police station has also been shut because of the risk of flooding with a temporary base set up at the local ambulance depot.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and other Scottish government ministers took part in a resilience conference call on Tuesday afternoon to hear about preparations being made to respond to the severe weather.

Environment Minister Aileen McLeod said: “Winter storms have already had an impact on parts of Scotland, and even more extreme conditions are expected with the arrival of Storm Frank.

“We will continue to work closely with Sepa, the Met Office, local authorities and the emergency services to coordinate a multi-agency response and ensure that people and businesses are as prepared as possible for the impact of the weather and any potential flooding.”