Power cut hits Wester Ross as SSEN engineers battle to find fault amidst high wind warning for Wednesday
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A POWER outage has left more scores of number of homes in Wester Ross without electricity tonight.
It's believed that around 160-plus Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks customers are affected in the Strathcarron and Shieldaig areas.
The outage first reported at 6.34pm this evening mainly affects properties in the IV54 postcode area.
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SSEN says an engineer is on site and it's hoped power could be restored by 2.30am tomorrow morning.
It said a fault on its main overhead network is the cause and has apologised for the inconvenience.
It said this is the most common type of fault and that in most cases engineers can restore power by simply replacing a fuse at the local substation. However if the fault is more severe "this may result in us needing to make full repairs which can take longer".
It can be messaged on Facebook or called on 105, quoting reference NG6624.
The company has also upgraded to weather warning for the north of Scotland on Wednesday (January 31) "ahead of very strong winds forecast".
It said: "SSEN’s latest weather model shows high winds forecast across the Western Isles, Caithness, Orkney, Shetland, and parts of the mainland West Coast.
"These areas could see gusts of up to 70mph, with the 80mph gusts possible on the coasts and exposed areas. The wind will generally be strong across much of the north of Scotland network area, with winds of 60-65mph expected in Perthshire, Angus, Aberdeen, and on the Moray coast."
What's SSEN's response?
It is "now activating our well-rehearsed severe weather plans, bringing in extra teams to deal with any network faults and damage these high winds may cause". It will also increase the number of people available to take customers’ calls and queries.
It will offer further updates as it monitors conditions.
Help and advice
If you see any damage to our equipment, please stay back, don’t touch it and instead report it to us directly by calling 105, or via our Power Track website, and our engineers will investigate as soon as possible.
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.
Visiting our Power Track Website to give you details of power cuts and restoration times. You can also report power cuts and network damage through Power Track.
Visiting the "Preparing for a power cut" section on our website, where there is a wealth of advice and information, or to chat live to one of our advisors via the Webchat service.
What is the Priority Services Register?
Customers are also eligible for the 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.
CalMac has already cancelled a number of sailings between Ullapool and Stornoway and ScotRail is on standby for potential disruption to services.
