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Winter weather
04/01/2012
Utility companies are working 'tirelessly' to reconnect households that have faced disruption from yesterday's severe weather, Finance Secretary John Swinney said today.
Travel networks and services are getting back to normal however, some households are continuing to experience disruption to power supplies. Network Rail has deployed more than 350 teams in Scotland to remove 856 trees from lines. And Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy updated Ministers this afternoon on their work to reconnect energy lines, with more than 1,000 engineers restored power to 117,000 households since Monday. A further 12,000 expecting to be reconnected by the end of today.
Yesterday Scotland experienced exceptionally high winds, which included gusts of 102mph at Blackford Hill in Edinburgh, 97mph on Islay and 91mph at Bishopton. SGoRR and the Multi-Agency Response Team (MART) have continued operations today to ensure Scotland recovers from any disruption as soon as possible.
Mr Swinney thanked all community and private sector partners for their ongoing work to protect and minimise disruption to the public in the face of extreme weather conditions
Finance Secretary John Swinney said:
"Scotland experienced severe winds yesterday and the Scottish Government, transport partners and utility companies are continuing to work together to get Scotland back to business as soon as possible.
"I would like to thank the thousands of staff involved over the last 48 hours in protecting the public and helping to get services back to normal. Network Rail had more than 350 teams out in Scotland to clear 856 trees from lines, while energy firms deployed an extra 600 workers to Scotland to help reconnect customers. The resilience arrangements put in place on Monday, and the tireless work of staff throughout the country, have helped to minimise disruption to communities and businesses.
"Scottish and Southern Energy and Scottish Power are making every effort to get services restored to every disrupted household.
"The public can be assured that the Scottish Government is doing all it can to keep Scotland moving and back to normal following this extreme weather."