Final Shetland homes set to be reconnected to power grid during yellow weather warning

Just over 100 homes in Shetland are expected to be reconnected to the power grid after almost a week without electricity.

Engineers said 118 households remain with electricity following heavy snowfall on the islands which brought down power lines and cut off supplies.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) dispatched 160 engineers after a major incident was declared on the islands earlier this week when temperatures plunged below -15C.

Experts said 24 homes remained without power from the initial outage, but a secondary issue had caused 94 other to lose their supply.

Mark Macdonald, the head of region at SSEN, said: “Our teams will continue to work throughout the evening and will be back out at first light tomorrow to push on with the final restoration effort.

“Barring no unforeseen challenges, we’re confident we can restore power to all remaining properties by Sunday afternoon.

“We understand the challenges communities are facing after days without power and would like to thank Shetland Islands Council, our resilience partners and local communities for their ongoing support in coordinating warm hubs for local residents.

It comes amid a yellow weather warning for snow and ice across parts of the country.

A cold and frosty start for many on Sunday morning, but rain and strong winds will quickly spread in from the west

The rain will turn to snow for a time across the north, and freezing rain will bring some icy conditions in places too ❄️ pic.twitter.com/ifxh967HWT
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 17, 2022

The Met Office issued the alert until 9pm on Sunday, with snow and icy conditions expected to cause traffic delays.

It highlighted an “area of concern” in the North, but cautioned that treacherous conditions were likely across most other regions.

The forecast read: “A band of snow is expected to move northeast across the UK on Sunday, in most places lasting two to four hours before turning to rain.

“Temporary accumulations of 1-3 cm are likely at low levels, with 5-10 cm more typical across upland areas and isolated 10-15 cm on high ground north of the Central Belt.

“Once rain becomes established, all lying snow will melt rapidly. In addition to the snow and ice, strong winds are expected across all parts, with gales or severe gales mainly across high ground. This will lead to blizzard conditions in some areas for a time.”

Several train services have been cancelled due to inclement conditions with freezing rain halting the Far North, Kyle and West Highland Lines.

ScotRail apologised to customers and urged anyone planning to travel to check their journeys before heading off.