ENGINEERS are working around the clock to restore power to 8,500 homes across the north and west of Scotland following Storm Amy.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said that, as of 8.30am today, workers had already managed to reconnect 80,000 households cut off after the network sustained a 100mph battering over the weekend, but “several hundred engineers and tree-cutting specialists are once again working across the network to restore power to customers.”

They added: “A comprehensive welfare operation is also underway, our own staff and volunteers from the British Red Cross are visiting our most vulnerable customers.”

ScotRail service delivery director Mark Ilderton reported that “the vast majority of services are now operating” with the help of Network Rail Scotland staff, who “worked around the clock to carry out infrastructure checks and repairs to reopen the railway.”

Paying tribute to those workers, TSSA general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said: “So many of our members in Network Rail, as well as those dealing directly with passengers in the wake of the storm, will be doing all they can to get rail routes back to normal. As ever, their dedication shines through.” 

Commenting on the storm and its aftermath as he opened Scottish Power’s new offices in Edinburgh today, First Minister John Swinney said: “The fact that we’re having storms of this nature, and we’re experiencing the degree of disruption that we are facing, is a practical demonstration of the effects of climate change.”

“These storms are an illustration of the climate problem, and we’ve got to take action to address that.”