Watch : battle to restore north east power supplies continues
Aberdeenshire firms and groups rally round to provide hot food and drinks
North-east residents are bracing for a fourth night without heating or electricity in the wake of Storm Arwen.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is warning it could be at least “a couple of days” before power is restored to some parts of the North-East.
The energy provider confirmed on Monday around 24,000 homes were still off supply across the North of Scotland – including in Aberdeenshire.
The company is urging people affected by localised faults, normally single houses and groups of houses, to find alternative arrangements if possible.
Local businesses and community groups in the area have been supplying hot food, drinks and showers following the power outages.
Schools in Aberdeenshire could stay closed until at least Wednesday.
SSEN has restored power to over 98,000 homes, including in Aboyne and Alford, since Storm Arwen damaged its network on Friday.
The energy provider says wind gusts of up to 90mph over the weekend left engineers facing 800 faults across the system – triple the number during the “Beast from the East” in 2018.
Graeme Keddie, director of corporate affairs, said: “I’d like to apologise to customers who’ve been without power and thank them for their patience.
“We have all available teams working on this and I’d like to reassure the public that we are committed to restoring power as soon as we possibly can.
The company is urging people living in single houses and groups of houses to find alternative arrangements if possible.
It comes as power is not expected to be returned for them until Wednesday.
SSEN teams are offering support to vulnerable people in this position and can be contacted by phone on 105.
“Our teams are working round the clock,” Mr Keddie said. “I was speaking to the team in the north-east yesterday and they said it’s the most challenging conditions they’ve faced in decades.
“It is a complex picture, our engineers are seeing multiple faults, and it’s sometimes a case of two steps forward and one back.
“It takes time and some faults that would usually take an hour or two are taking all day.
“We’re making progress but we want to be honest with our customers and say, for those that are localised faults, it will be at least two days before the power is restored.”