LAST UPDATE | 17 Feb 2023

THOUSANDS OF HOMES in Britain remain without power after Storm Otto swept across the country, but engineers have made “excellent progress” in restoring electricity supplies.

Winds as high as 80mph were recorded across parts of north and north-east Scotland on Friday, and thousands of homes were left without power.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution said that, as of 9pm on Friday, electricity supplies had been successfully restored to more than 35,000 properties – with around 7,600 still cut off.

Mark Rough, operations director at SSEN Distribution, said: “Despite the extreme weather conditions throughout this morning and ongoing challenges gaining access to faults, our teams have made excellent progress restoring power to those homes impacted by Storm Otto and we would like to thank all customers impacted for their ongoing patience and understanding.”

SSEN said engineers will be back out from sunrise on Saturday to continue work restoring power, with additional support being drafted in from network operators and contractors across the country.

However, it warned earlier that some customers in rural areas may be off supply for more than 48 hours.

The areas affected are mainly concentrated in Aberdeenshire, including parts of Longside, Mauld, Insch, as well as rural Morray and pockets of customers across the Highlands.

SSEN said mobile food vans had been deployed to the main areas still off supply, and will begin serving food again from 8am on Saturday.

The UK Met Office had issued yellow weather warnings for wind covering the whole of Scotland and a stretch of north and north east England, running from Sheffield to the Scottish border, which expired early on Friday afternoon.

The scene on Endcliffe Vale Road, Sheffield, where a man in his 50s was injured after a tree fell and a property nearby was also damaged as a result of storm Otto. PA PA

Meanwhile, schools in some parts of Scotland were closed due to the conditions, with the Highlands and Aberdeenshire among the areas affected.

In Angus, schools are closed for the mid-term break, but the council tweeted that the roof of Burnside Primary School in Carnoustie had been damaged by the high winds and the school will remain closed to pupils next week.

Aberdeenshire Council warned of several road closures and said that some schools were shut, while several GP practices were operating emergency services only as they have no power.

Rail services were also affected due to the storm, with ScotRail implementing an emergency timetable.

Phil Campbell, ScotRail’s head of customer operations, said: “ScotRail services on routes across the country have been impacted by the severe weather conditions of Storm Otto.

“Teams are working around the clock to deal with any weather-related incidents quickly and efficiently.

“We ask customers who are planning to travel to check their journey before they leave for the station, and to keep an eye on our website, app or social media feeds for live updates.”

And Police Scotland urged drivers to take “extra care”.

A yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued from 11pm tonight until 9am on Saturday.

The warning covers parts of Central Scotland, Tayside and Fife, Grampian, the Highlands and Western Isles and Strathclyde.