Shetland residents still without power as engineers tackle snow | Scotland

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Hundreds of homes in Shetland face power outages until early next week as engineers grapple with challenging road and weather conditions, after five days of widespread power outages last Monday.

Scottish and Southern Power Networks, which shipped 125 emergency engineers, convoys of SUVs and generators to Shetland this week, said it could take until at least Monday to restore supplies to about 800 homes and businesses in West Mainland.

Their warning came as much of west-central Scotland and parts of the Southern Highlands were placed under an amber severe snow weather warning until midday Friday, with up to 20cm of snow expected on higher ground.

The amber alert was issued by the Met Office just before 5 a.m. and only an hour before it went into effect, leaving many commuters and commercial drivers little time to prepare.

Traffic agencies and police reported a series of collisions, numerous breakdowns and impassable roads before and during rush hour, including the closure of parts of the M8 east of Glasgow after an accident and reports of vehicles stuck in the snow near Inveraray, Argyll.

Police in central Argyll and Kintyre, west of Loch Lomond, have advised all motorists to stay off the A83 and A85 main roads due to heavy snow and reports of stopped vehicles, including HGVs, in the Rest and Be Thankful area. A 83.

SSEN said that as of 10.45pm on Thursday some 1,700 properties were still without power in parts of the West Mainland, Voe and Brae.

“Helicopter reconnaissance and foot patrols have now given engineers a clear picture of the extent of the damage, enabling teams to segment the network and make progress restoring customer supplies area by area,” the company said. This work was necessary to rebuild the “backbone” of the network.

“With no unexpected challenges, we expect sustained progress over the next 48 hours and aim to restore the vast majority of supplies by Sunday.

“Given the scale of the damage and access issues on the western mainland, particularly west of Bixter, some properties in this area are now expected to be reconnected by the early part of next week. We are continuing to do everything we can to improve this if we can.”

Shetland Islands Council, SSEN, the police and other agencies have set up 20 ‘warm stations’ providing hot drinks, kitchen facilities, fuel, broadband connections and warm space for those without electricity.

They had no heating, Dr Susan Bowie, a GP at Hillswick Surgery in the northwest of the mainland, told BBC Scotland: “It’s really cold in the surgery. You can’t stay in there for long because your hands get so cold, but there was a community spirit.” real about this situation.

“The roads are horrible but the staff came through, they did their best. We wear coats, sweaters and woolen coats just to keep warm.”

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