SSEN Distribution issues Weather Warning for north of Scotland ahead of Storm Babet

Issued on behalf of SSEN

SSEN Distribution has moved to Weather Warning status ahead of Storm Babet, which is expected to bring high winds and rain, across the north and north-east of mainland Scotland and Orkney from Wednesday evening through to the weekend.

SSEN’s current weather model shows high winds forecast across Angus, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Caithness and Orkney.  These areas could see gusts of up to 60mph, with the strongest winds currently forecast to be on Thursday afternoon.   

Heavy rain is also forecast for much of Scotland between Thursday and Saturday.

SSEN is activating its well-rehearsed contingency plans, and is standing up more teams to deal with any damage to the network and subsequent faults, which may impact customers’ power supplies.

Customers on SSEN’s Priority Services Register are being proactively contacted to offer further advice and support, with calls made to those in the most vulnerable categories.  Coordination is also under way with local resilience partners to aid preparations. Customers are encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of disruption to supplies by:

• Saving the emergency power cut number - '105' - to your phone to report any loss of supply or damage to the electricity network
• Downloading SSEN's Power Track app to give you details of power cuts and restoration times. You can also report power cuts and network damage through the Power Track app
• Going to SSEN's website where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to deal with a power cut, or to chat live to one of SSEN's advisors via its Webchat service

SSEN would also like to remind people not to go near any damage to its equipment they might find and instead report it to them directly by calling 105, or via the Power Track App, and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.

Customers are also eligible for SSEN's Priority Services Register (PSR) if they:

• Are deaf or hard of hearing
• Have a disability
• Live with children under five
• Are blind or partially sighted
• Have a chronic illness
• Use medical equipment/aids reliant on electricity
• Are over 60.

To find out more about the PSR, click here or call 0800 294 3259.