Our engineers are working to restore power to more than 58,000 customers as Storm Éowyn brought some of the strongest winds in decades – causing significant impact across central and southern Scotland and also affecting North Wales and the west of England.
24.01.2025 - 8pm
The 'once in a generation' storm battered the country throughout the day with a rare red weather warning in place in Scotland, where the highest recorded windspeeds topped 100mph, hampering our efforts to assess damage and restore power as falling debris and downed trees affected powerlines.
The red weather warning has been stood down however amber warnings for high winds remain in place right across Scotland for the time being.
Our teams have already restored power to more than 110,000 customers who were left without electricity earlier today as a result of Storm Éowyn, with 89,000 of these in Central and Southern Scotland and more than 21,000 in Manweb.
There are currently 57,000 customers across central and southern Scotland and around 1,200 in the Manweb area without power. Multiple repair teams are mobilised across our network areas and working to restore customers where possible, with engineers from Manweb now heading north to support their colleagues in the worst affected areas of Central and Southern Scotland.
Safety remains our number one priority. High wind speeds and unsafe conditions in some areas are hampering our engineers in undertaking repairs to the network but where safe to do so, are ready to restore customers as quickly as possible.
Aileen Rourke, SP Energy Networks’ Scotland Distribution Director, said: “Winds of over 100mph swept across the region throughout the course of today causing damage to the electricity network. During these severe winds it has not always been safe for us to work to restore power, but wherever possible our engineers have done what they can, both in the field and in the control room, to get power back on.
“Whilst the red weather warning has now lifted the wind speeds are still expected to remain high throughout the course of the night. We have reached out to our customers expected to be without power overnight to offer them alternative accommodation and access to hot food and drink.
“In some areas it could take a few days to restore supplies due to the severity of the damage, but our teams are working to assess the repairs needed and support customers whilst we work to get the lights back on.
“We continue to work closely with the Scottish Government, local authorities and other services and are continuing to proactively contact vulnerable customers to offer support.
“For those currently without power, please be certain we are doing everything we can to get you back on supply as soon as we can. If you’re experiencing a power outage, please report it to us via our website in the first instance or by calling the free, national emergency helpline 105.”
Liam O’Sullivan, SP Energy Networks Manweb Distribution Director, said: “Our engineers have worked tirelessly throughout the course of today to restore power to as many households as safely possible across the region.
“The storm brought fallen trees and debris onto many parts of our network and road closures hampered some of our efforts to get power restored in challenging conditions.
“We will have some customers remaining off overnight and we have been in touch with them to arrange alternative accommodation if required. Our efforts to restore power will continue throughout tonight and tomorrow morning and we hope to have the vast majority of customers back on supply tonight.”
We have proactively contacted 75,000 customers on our Priority Services Register across our entire licence area. We have also opened warm hubs and sent food vans out in Galashiels and East Linton. Hotels are being offered to customers in urgent need of accommodation for the evening.
SP Energy Networks invests billions to ensure its network is safe, reliable and resilient, but extreme weather conditions like Storm Éowyn’s strong winds increases the chance of power cuts.