Watch engineers engulfed by waves in battle to fix damaged supply box

Engineers battled against the elements to fix an electrical box battered by stormy conditions on a shorefront Aberdeenshire street.

Dramatic images show workers shielding components of a street lighting unit from powerful waves crashing over the sea wall at Stonehaven.

The two-man crew was dispatched to make the area safe after the local fire service was called amid reports of damage to the box.

It came as Scotland continued to be soaked by inclement conditions in the wake of Storm Babet.

Engineers were forced to battle the elements to fix the box. James Stephen

A yellow weather warning was extended until 3am on Monday with the east coast, Highlands and central belt absorbing the worst of the turbulent conditions.

Storm Ciarán, the third named storm of the season, has hit areas in the south west of England, but parts of Scotland are to feel the after effects, with strong winds and heavy rain expected.

A spokesperson for SSEN said: “Shortly after 1.30pm yesterday, we were contacted by the local fire service who alerted us to damage to one of the boxes supplying electricity to nearby street lighting; our teams attended site and carried out the necessary work to make everything safe.

“No customers’ supplies were affected.”

Insight Philip Petrie STV Weather Presenter

“It’s been quite the start to this year’s storm season, two months in and we are already on our third named storm.

“Unfortunately the clean-up operation is still underway in parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Fife, Perth & Kinross and Stirling, but with more stormy conditions on the way it’s looking like a never-ending effort.

“This week has started off fairly settled, with things remaining relatively dry and bright for many of us. But come Wednesday things will turn unsettled with the arrival of Storm Ciarán.

“It’s important to note that at the moment the biggest impacts from the storm will be around the south of the UK, where there are currently several warnings in place for strong winds and heavy rain, but depending on the final track of the storm we could be seeing some rain and gusty winds around central and southern parts of Scotland, and we should be prepared for some warnings to be issued over the next couple of days.

“In terms of the parts of the north east already battered by Storm Babet, further strong winds from Storm Ciarán could hamper cleanup efforts, along with some further precipitation on Thursday.

“The devil is in the detail and at the moment there is still uncertainty as to the direct tracking of Ciarán so for now we just need to be prepared for a disruptive and unsettled start to November, and what could possibly be a tumultuous winter ahead.”