Rural communities in the north and north-east are to likely to remain without power for several days as the country braces for the arrival of Storm Corrie.
Tens of thousands of households were left without power on Saturday in the wake of Storm Malik after strong winds brought down trees and power lines across the region.
More than 200 faults were reported across the SSEN network over the course of the day, with around 18,000 customers left without supply as of 11am.
Engineers have been working through the night to restore power to effected households as they move to a red alert status ahead of Storm Corrie.
However, SSEN bosses have stressed that rural communities in the north and north-east are likely to remain without power for several days due to the scale of the damage.
The Met Office have imposed an amber weather warning covering the majority of the Grampian and Highlands region.
The ‘danger to life’ warning will be the second of its kind for Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire this weekend after an amber warning was imposed ahead of Storm Malik.
A yellow weather warning has also been put in place across the whole of mainland Scotland and parts of England, taking effect from 3pm.
Rural communities left in the dark
Power has now been restored to around 55,000 customers, with communities in the Western Isles and Skye among those back online.
However, with Storm Corrie just hours away from taking impact, rural towns and villages across the north and north-east are being warned by SSEN to expect “prolonged outages” which could extend across several days.
North-east communities such as Aberchider, Finzean, Monymusk, Newburgh, Rothienorman, Strachan and Whitehouse- Alford are likely to remain offline for some time.
Highland residents in Kingussie, Boat of Garten, Dalwhinnie, Ballindalloch and the Grantown area are also facing a similar ordeal.
Around 16,000 homes across Aberdeenshire are still without power, with residents in Banchory, Midmar, Inverurie, Insch and Kintore among those feeling the strain.
Richard Gough, director of distribution system operations at SSEN, stressed due to the scale of the damage, their recovery efforts will extend over several days.
“Having now assessed the full impact of Storm Malik and as we prepare for the arrival of Storm Corrie, we have now increased our alert status to red alert,” he said.
“Whilst our teams have made good progress and have restored power to the majority of customers affected by Storm Malik, due to the extent of damage caused, alongside the likely impact of Storm Corrie, we expect the full restoration of customer supplies from both storms to extend across multiple days.
“We are therefore notifying all customers who remain off supply that they may want to consider making alternative arrangements, where possible.
“We would like to apologise to all customers affected and would like to reassure them that our teams are doing all they can to restore power as quickly as possible, where it is safe to do so.”
Several communities in the north-east are also facing a loss of water supply.
Aware of multiple water outages across areas of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine- including a burst main at Newtonhill. Have spoken to authorities and Scottish Water. There will be fluctuations in pressure as tankers are added to the network to top up lower levels (1/2)
— Andrew Bowie MP (@AndrewBowie_MP) January 30, 2022
Engineers are currently working to fix bust water mains in Newtonhill and Peterhead.
Taking to Twitter, MP Andrew Bowie of west Aberdeenshire and Kincardine appealed to those in need to get in touch.
He wrote: “Aware of multiple water outages across areas of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine- including a burst main at Newtonhill. Have spoken to authorities and Scottish Water. There will be fluctuations in pressure as tankers are added to the network to top up lower levels.
“They are working to resume full supply as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you have lost water, please DM or email me and I will pass your details on.”
Communities band together to weather the storm
Resources are now being made available across the region to support people impacted by the storms.
Aberdeenshire Council are providing hot meals for residents, as their school catering teams step up to lend a helping hand.
Meals can be obtained from Banchory, Aboyne, Inverurie, Turriff, and Alford academy canteens between 1pm and 5pm.
Leisure centres across Aberdeenshire are also opening their doors today to provide hot showers and charging facilities to all residents.
SSEN are also distributing food vans to the most affected communities.
