Shetland: Dozens of engineers work into night to restore power

Teams of engineers worked into the night in Shetland in a bid to restore power to about 2,800 homes.

Heavy snowstorms disrupted supplies, with many facing days without power.

Fifteen crews arrived in Lerwick by ferry on Wednesday to help with reconnection efforts, which are being hampered by continuing poor weather.

Energy firm Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said more crews would leave for Shetland throughout the course of the day.

In total, 125 additional engineers will support local teams.

The situation in Shetland has been declared a major incident, with residents urged to stay at home.

SSE said engineers were still at work after 21:00 and would stay as long as it was operationally safe before being stood down for the night.

The firm said it would ensure workers were back out at first light on Thursday with additional crews arriving on the morning ferry.

Meanwhile, SSEN said progress was expected over the next 24 hours, but it remained likely that for some customers full restoration would not be until the end of the week.

This has been blamed on "significant" network damage caused by line icing, where snow and ice accumulate on overhead power lines and the additional weight causes them to break.

Mark Macdonald, head of region at SSEN Distribution, said: "We're getting teams, equipment, and large-scale generation on the island now to help us enact our restoration plan and make continued progress in restoring power to our customers.

"We've had 15 power line crews arrive on the first ferry this morning, with another 15 crews leaving tonight and many more expected to arrive by plane and helicopter to support our local teams.

"Now that it's safe to fly, we're organising helicopter patrols to fly our overhead lines and assess the extent of the damage, which will help us better target our restoration strategy."

Customers are entitled to claim up to £30 per person for every 24 hours they are without power.

Even getting to Shetland has been difficult with snow closing the runways at both Aberdeen and Sumburgh airports.

With the plane having to abort its landing, I thought at one point that we might end up back where we started.

My five hour delay perhaps gives you an idea of how difficult it's been getting engineers here from the mainland.

This plane and some others was carrying workers from SSE who are being sent here to tackle the faults. They're a welcome sight.

At the south end of Shetland, there's barely any snow but further north and it's quickly gets thicker with quite a few cars abandoned at the side of the road.

Gangs of workers can be seen busy up poles trying to get the cables re-strung.

In Voe, which has had no power since Monday, a community hall has finally been provided with a spare generator from the wind farm being built in Shetland and local people are rallying their neighbours to take refuge there.

There is some anger but a lot of quiet resignation that this is not going to be over quickly.

Matt Davenport, 41, lost power at the family home in Upper Voe, Shetland, at the start of the week.

After two days, his wife and their nine-year-old son went to stay with her sister who does have power.

However Mr Davenport, a supervisor with Lerwick Engineering and Fabrication (LEF), has remained at home.

He has borrowed a camping stove for food - with his nearby work at Sullom Voe offering the chance of warmth and the ability to recharge his phone.

"We have oil-fired central heating and there's no power," he said of their modern three-bedroom single-storey detached house.

"Luckily I got a camping stove from a neighbour, so last night I heated up a tin of beans."

He explained: "I had a couple of duvets on the bed and wrapped up warm - I slept no bother actually. The house was cold but under blankets was OK.

"There is obviously no shower, so I put on a pan of water and had a quick wash and a coffee.

"We have power here at work, so I have charging and communication.

"Power lines have come down so it's not going to be a two-minute job. They are doing their best. The power might be back on tomorrow. You just have to make the best of it."

Emma Macdonald, the leader of Shetland Islands Council, who took five hours to make a 25-minute car journey on Monday during a blizzard, said the weather was unusual.

"The community is very resilient, as an island we have to be, and we have seen a lot of community support, everyone pulling together to do what they can.

"There is a lot of snow, a lot of wet snow and it is sticking on the lines which is the issue.

"It is very unprecedented, I don't think it can be blamed on the electricity company."

Meanwhile there has been heavy snow across much of north-east Scotland overnight.

Aberdeenshire Council said most of its roads network had been affected by heavy snow and drivers faced disruption on the A90 after a bus and lorry crashed near Glenbervie, at about 17:00.

More than 200 schools and nurseries in Aberdeenshire, Moray and the Highlands are closed.

A power cut affecting seven postcodes in Stonehaven was fixed by 13:00.

A school bus left the road at Tankerness, Orkney. Three children were reported to have been on board at the time but they all made it safely to school by other means. No-one was hurt.

Aberdeen has also seen significant snowfall and bus company Stagecoach Bluebird says its services have been affected, with many cancelled, delayed or diverted.

The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice covering northern Scotland until 23:59 on Thursday.

It covers the north and north-east of Scotland, Shetland, south-west Scotland, the Lothians, Scottish Borders and Orkney.

A Met Office yellow warning for strong winds is in force between 07:00 - 14:00 in Shetland, where gusts of up to 60-65mph will accompany blustery wintery showers, especially for northern areas.

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