Warnings have been issued that the recovery from Storm Arwen will be more challenging than it was initially feared.
Winds of up to 90mph battered Aberdeenshire and Moray through Friday and the early hours of Saturday.
The horrendous conditions brought disruption across the region with 120,000 homes left without power after “catastrophic” damage to the energy network.
On Sunday evening the Scottish Government held emergency talks with resilience groups to assess the continuing effect of the storm.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney explained relief efforts would be focused at the most vulnerable amid continuing power, water and telephone outages from Storm Arwen.
He said: “The scale of the damage caused by Storm Arwen is worse than we first feared and as a result our recovery will take longer than anticipated.
“We know this will create significant challenges for communities and households still affected by the storm’s impacts and I want to reassure them we are doing everything we can, liaising with local resilience partnerships, to focus efforts and resources.
Fallen trees and prolonged bad weather is still making access to faults difficult, but we have moved additional engineers and support staff into the areas most adversely affected to support restoration efforts.
Thank you for your patience as we work safely to restore supplies. pic.twitter.com/yJkGGPkqfT
— ssencommunity (@ssencommunity) November 28, 2021
“We have been working closely and at pace with power companies who are maximising efforts to restore services to households currently without power.
“Plans are being put in place for further assistance to respond to the longer than expected recovery and we are concentrating getting power restored for vulnerable people and those who need it most.
“In extremely challenging circumstances we have seen an outstanding response from local resilience partnerships who have been providing vital support to local residents and I would like to thank them for their continuing efforts.”