Be prepared for poor weather outages

MP Richard Thomson has warned of the increased risk of disruption to utilities in rural areas due to poor weather conditions.

Richard Thomson MP visiting SSEN staff engaged in resilience work in the aftermath of Storm Arwen.

Mr Thomson cautioned that the supply of vital utilities can often be disrupted by poor weather and that households should prepare for issues that may result from the winter weather.

He said: “Homes in rural areas are particularly susceptible to issues like disruption to water supplies due to frozen pipes, power cuts due to damage to transmission lines and issues with gas supplies.

“If you experience a power cut, make sure you switch off any appliances that should not be left unattended, make sure your neighbours are okay and leave a light on so that you know when the outage has been resolved. You can report a power cut, damage to overhead lines or any other hazard to electricity infrastructure by phoning 105.

“In the event of a gas emergency, such as discovering a smell of gas, you should immediately report the issue using the National Gas Emergency number, 0800 111 999. For other issues, you can contact your supplier, or phone SGN on 0800 912 1700.

“I would encourage people to consult the advice on ready.scot, which contains lots of helpful tips, including checklists of basic items to have on hand to minimise the impact should severe weather cause sudden disruption. Simple measures like keeping a battery or hand-crank powered radio and shelf-stable ready-to-eat food can go a long way to help minimise disruption in the event of severe weather.”