Military brought in to help those without power in Aberdeenshire

More than 100 armed forces personnel are arriving in Aberdeenshire today to support those affected by Storm Arwen.

Troops will be carrying out welfare checks for those still without power following Friday's storm.

With 3,100 homes still without power, the bulk of the work to re-connect people remains in Aberdeenshire.

Many have now gone without power since Friday.

"Wonderful examples" of community spirit

An Aberdeenshire Council spokesperson said: "Following a formal approach to the UK Government for assistance, around 120 military personnel will be arriving in Aberdeenshire this morning to support our ongoing resilience efforts in the aftermath of Storm Arwen.

"The troops will focus on welfare checks on the ground within those communities still impacted by loss of power and will supplement what our own teams have been doing since the weekend.

"We continue to appreciate all the wonderful examples of community assistance which continue to be evident across the region – whether it be supplies of hot food and drinks, checking on elderly residents and neighbours or helping to deliver supplies.

"Thank you for your all your endeavours and rest assured we continue to work tirelessly to provide the support our communities require at this challenging time."

Some will remain without power until Saturday

Scottish and Southern Energy Networks (SSEN) said in its latest update that as of noon on Thursday, 3,100 customers remain off supply, while more than 125,000 have had power restored.

2,400 customers in Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen are waiting to be reconnected.

There are also around 300 still without power in Angus, around 200 each in Moray and Perthshire and some 25 in Stirlingshire.

SSEN said it aims to restore power to the vast majority of homes still affected by Friday, subject to no new damage being identified or unforeseen challenges.

But the firm said "small pockets of customers on SSEN's low voltage network in Aberdeenshire will not be reconnected until Saturday".

The company plans to contact these customers to offer support, including accommodation.

Mark Rough, SSEN operations director, said: "As Aberdeenshire is the main area which continues to be impacted by Storm Arwen, when power is restored to customers in other regions we are redeploying additional resources to support restoration efforts, as well as enhancing welfare provisions in the region.

"Due to the extent of damage on the low voltage network, particularly to single premises, some customers in Aberdeenshire will regrettably remain off supply until Saturday and our teams will proactively contact those customers to offer whatever support is required.

"I would like to reassure all customers still off supply that our teams are doing everything they can to restore power as quickly as possible and would once again like to apologise for everyone who has experienced a loss of supply as a result of Storm Arwen."