Storm Amy: Trains suspended and 12,000 homes still without power as Storm Amy clear-up continues

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said that by 9pm on Sunday, 76,000 homes customers had been reconnected after the storm’s “extremely damaging” winds.

SSEN, the distribution network operator for the north of Scotland, said engineers are working in “challenging” conditions to reconnect the remaining 12,000 homes.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said that by 3.30pm on Sunday more than 71,000 customers had been reconnected after the storm’s “extremely damaging” winds.

SSEN, the distribution network operator for the north of Scotland, said engineers are working in “challenging” conditions to reconnect the remaining 17,000 homes.

Meanwhile, Network Rail has warned of ongoing disruption to rail services while on-site teams work to clear fallen trees and debris and repair damage to overhead lines.

A yellow warning of wind was in place for much of Scotland, including Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen, until midday on Sunday.

The Met Office said: “Strong west to north-westerly winds are expected to continue across the Northern Isles and also affect parts of northern and eastern mainland Scotland through the first part of Sunday, as Storm Amy slowly pulls away to the east.

“Gusts of 60 to 70 mph are possible through the early hours, especially in more exposed areas.

“Winds should generally ease from the west through the morning although (they) will remain strong over, and to the lee of, mountains for some time afterwards.”

The Met Office said wind gusts reached 96mph across northern Scotland on Saturday.

‘Considerable disruption’ to power supplies

SSEN said the storm had caused “considerable disruption” in the north of Scotland and ongoing high winds were impacting repairs.

The network launched a large-scale welfare operation to support people affected by outages with hot food being provided as seven locations on Sunday.

On Sunday, a spokesperson for SSEN said: “Hundreds of engineers are out on the network fixing faults, and this work is progressing well as wind speeds fall, meaning teams can now safely work at height.

“However, access remains challenging in many areas owing to felled trees and debris; this means reaching some network damage is still proving difficult in some cases.

“Dozens of additional engineering teams from other network operators have arrived from across the country to support this operation.”

Rail disruption ongoing

Network Rail said teams had been working through the night to clear routes worst hit by the storm, although power cuts in the West Highlands had slowed progress.

It said that as of Sunday afternoon, they have had reports of more than 420 incidents across Scotland’s railway.

ScotRail said services are operating across the majority of the network on Sunday.

However, it said “significant” incidents means there will be no services on the Oban/Crianlarich and Fort William/Mallaig West Highland Line, nor on the Far North Inverness/Wick/Kyle lines on Sunday.

No services are expected until later in the day on the Inverness to Elgin, Glasgow to Wemyss Bay and Glasgow to Alloa routes.

London North Eastern Railway said that the midday London King’s Cross to Inverness service will terminate at Edinburgh because of a fallen tree blocking all lines at Moy Loop.

It said that customers travelling to Inverness and stations north of Edinburgh will be provided with road transport from Edinburgh.

ScotRail said: “The impact of Storm Amy has been significant and we’re sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers since Friday.

“The safety of our customers and staff is always the priority during these extreme weather events.”

National Rail warned journeys could continue be disrupted across Scotland, England and Wales on Sunday.

Irish police said a man died in a “weather-related” incident in the Letterkenny area of County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, shortly after 4.15pm on Friday.

The Met Office said that the “swirl of cloud” associated with Storm Amy has now moved away towards Scandinavia.

In a post on social media, it said: “Sunday has been a less unsettled day in Amy’s wake, but it’s still blustery in places with a few showers in the west.”