Thousands of people across Tayside have been left without power after Storm Arwen battered the region with winds of more than 90mph.
Dozens of power cuts were reported across the region, mainly in Angus and Perthshire, with many residents still without a supply into Saturday morning.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) moved to “red alert” status as it dealt with the impact of the storm on electricity supplies.
The company said it had received more than 250 high-voltage faults as of 10pm on Friday due to fallen trees, branches and other debris hitting infrastructure.
As of late Friday night, 80,000 people remained off the grid with supply restored to about 30,000 customers, with Angus, Perthshire, Aberdeenshire and the Moray coast the worst affected.
Speaking on Friday night, one Carnoustie resident said: “We had the first power cut at about 6.20pm then it was continually off and on until about 9.40pm.
“I expected supply to return shortly after but here we are at 11.40pm almost and no power for two hours.
“I have two full freezers packed with food which is a real concern. I can’t be the only one with this worry.
“Worst of all there is little or no contact as mobile signal is also affected so can’t get online to check.”
Repair efforts ‘severely hampered’
SSEN says the weather “severely hampered” efforts to make repairs, with some abandoned for safety reasons or issues with access.
About 500 staff have been working to restore supplies.
Mark Rough, director of customer operations at SSEN, said: “Storm Arwen has brought some of the most severe and challenging weather we have experienced in recent years, resulting in significant disruption across the north of Scotland.
“Despite detailed preparations, the prolonged and severe nature of the weather front has hampered efforts to restore supplies.
“We therefore expect many customers to remain without power into Saturday, particularly in the Aberdeenshire area.
“We would like to apologise to all our customers who have experienced a loss of supply and would like to reassure them that our teams are working hard to prioritise faults and carry out repairs at the earliest opportunity.
“To support restoration efforts, we have helicopters on standby to monitor the network for damage from first light on Saturday morning.
“We continue to prioritise proactive contact to our customers on our priority services register to offer extra support where required and I’d encourage anyone concerned to give our dedicated teams a call on 105, where we can provide additional support and guidance.”
