In the aftermath of last night’s strong winds across Shetland, over 500 homes remain without power and anyone needing essential support is urged to contact Shetland Islands Council.
Wind gusts of 89 mph were recorded in Fair Isle and 84 mph in Lerwick at the height of ‘Storm Gerrit’ last night. The Shetland Emergency Planning Forum (SEPF) has met earlier today, to discuss the local situation and responses from partners.
Council staff are contacting anyone known to be reliant on an electricity supply to provide assistance, and will coordinate support where necessary. Anyone who has not yet been contacted but may need urgent support, or perhaps know someone who does, is asked to contact Shetland Islands Council on 01595 744400 (office hours) or 01595 695611 (out of hours). This includes anyone who may not consider themselves to need help during normal circumstances.
Engineering teams from Scottish and Southern Energy Network (SSEN) are working across affected areas to restore power as soon as possible. It is hoped that most properties currently without power will have electricity supplies restored by 10pm tonight – Thursday. Any homes not connected by then will be prioritised for restoration as soon as possible tomorrow morning.
Maggie Sandison, Chief Executive of Shetland Islands Council said - “Let’s all look out for each other – please check on friends, families and neighbours and if you need help or know someone who does, please contact us. Our staff will help to coordinate any essential support until electricity supplies are restored.”
An SSEN spokesperson said: “SSEN’s teams have responded to the impact on the electricity network in Shetland, following the severe weather conditions last night.
“This morning, over 2,700 customers in Shetland were without power but thanks to the hard work of SSEN engineers, only 550 customers remain off supply. SSEN’s teams continue to work as quickly and safely as possible to restore supplies to those customers who are without power, and it expected that the majority will be reconnected this evening.
“We will attempt to call all customers expected to remain without supply overnight and would like to assure these customers that our engineers will be out from first light tomorrow morning to complete repairs.
“We would like to thank the local community on Shetland for their patience and would encourage anyone who has concerns to contact our free power cut helpline 105. Customers can also keep up to date with progress on restorations by visiting our Power Track website.”
- SSEN’s Priority Services Register helps offer free extra help and support during a power cut
- SSEN’s Powertrack App and website provides more information on power outages in your area