Power cuts leave hundreds without power in the Highlands amid Storm Babet gales
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Hundreds of people in communities in the western Highlands were without electricity on Thursday morning after several power cuts.
The outages came after the start of Storm Babet, with a yellow warning for gales and wind gusts of up to 80mph now in force.
It is not known if the power cuts are related to the storm, but the Met Office alert – which came into force at 3am – had warned that the north-west would experience some of the strongest winds.
A Met Office spokesman yesterday said: "Some locations over and to the lee of mountains across northwest Scotland could encounter sudden gusts in excess of 70-80 mph for a time."
At the time of writing there were nine separate power cuts reported in the Highland Council area, with most located in communities in the west.
These include communities dotted from Durness in the north to the Ardnamurchan peninsula in the south.
In Ross-shire a power outage centred on Loch Duich and taking in parts of Inverinate, Shiel Bridge and Scallasaig was reported shortly after 5am. Engineers were on site at the time of writing and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) was hopeful of restoring power imminently.
Shortly before 8am another area of Ross-shire was also hit by a power cut. This is reported to affect hundreds of residents across a large area stretching from the west shores of Loch Maree, up through Gairloch to Melvaig. At the time of writing this outage, which was reported at 7.49am, had happened so recently that SSEN had yet to provide an update from its engineers as to when the electricity might be restored.
Elsewhere in the Highlands, hundreds of homes in Sutherland were without power across three areas.
SSEN's online "Powertrack" map was showing that the largest outage took in hundreds of residents across an area that includes Durness, part of Kinlochbervie, Loch Eriboll, Loch Hope, and Altnaharra.
Elsewhere in Sutherland another area centred on Kylesku, Unapool and Kylestrome was also reported to be experiencing power cuts.
As too was a third area to the east of Lochinver centred on Loch Druim Suardalain and encompassing Glencanisp Lodge.
Related: Storm Babet gales spark cancellations of CalMac's Ullapool passenger ferries
The outage near Lochinver was reported shortly before 7.30pm on Wednesday night. SSEN said engineers were on site and hoping to restore power by midday on Thursday.
The outage centred on Kylesku, meanwhile, was reported shortly after 6am on Thursday. At the time of writing SSEN said it hoped to restore power by 1pm, but engineers had yet to arrive on site at the time of writing.
The largest area affected by a power cut, which includes Durness, Altnaharra and part of Kinlochbervie, was reported at 3.04am on Thursday. Engineers are on site, and SSEN said it hopes to restore power by 9am.
Other power cuts in the Highland Council area included two outages affecting communities in the Ardnamurchan and Loch Moidart area – including Kilchoan, Acharacle and Salen.
There were also power cuts in the Invergarry area in the Great Glen, and an area between Roy Bridge and Loch Laggan.
For the latest information, visit https://powertrack.ssen.co.uk.
