Thousands hit by power cuts across Tayside, Fife and Stirling during Storm Eowyn

"These extreme conditions are limiting our ability to get to fault locations at the moment."

By Ben MacDonald

January 24 2025, 1:34pm

A map from about 4pm on Friday showing power cuts across Tayside and Stirlingshire. Image: SSEN Power Track

Thousands of people throughout Tayside, Fife and Stirling have been hit by power cuts during Storm Eowyn.

Winds of more than 100mph have battered the region, leading to numerous power outages.

SSEN, which manages power supplies in Tayside and Stirlingshire, along with other parts of Scotland, says nearly 30,454 customers who had been cut off across the country have now had their supplies restored.

However, a further 48,990 are without power.

Large parts of Stirlingshire have been cut off from power.

There are also significant outages in the likes of Kinross-shire and areas around Auchterarder and Aberuthven – according to SSEN Power Track.

Areas north of Perth are also experiencing power cuts, with power outages reported at 8,590 in Blairgowrie and Alyth.

Workmen on Torbain Road in Kirkcaldy after trees fell on electricity lines on Friday. Image: Steve Brown/DC Thomson

Meanwhile, Scottish Power estimates that at least 15,000 people in Fife are also without power.

It has reported power cuts at homes in parts of Glenrothes, Levenmouth, Cowdenbeath, St Andrews, Aberdour, Cupar, Auchtermuchty, Stathmiglo, and the East Neuk of Fife.

These areas are managed by SP Energy Networks, along with Stirling city.

Rural parts of Angus including Glamis and Monikie and individual properties in Dundee have also been impacted.

Andy Smith, SSEN’s director of customer operations for the north of Scotland, said: “Storm Eowyn is proving to be exceptional, with wind gusts the like of which we’ve not seen in Scotland for many years.

“We’d been monitoring the storm for several days and took pre-emptive steps to move extra teams to the places that are being affected by the impact of this particularly severe weather.

‘Extreme conditions’ hampering efforts to restore power supplies

“These are particularly strong wind gusts, reaching over 90mph in places, and they’re already causing damage and disruption.

“These extreme conditions are limiting our ability to get to fault locations at the moment.

“I want to reassure our customers that we’ve planned for this and have the right resources in the right places so we can start repairing any damage to the network and restoring supplies as soon as it’s safe to do so.

“The scale of what’s unfolding today means reconnecting everyone will take some time, and I’m grateful to customers for their patience and understanding while we do this.”

The Courier understands the First Minister is at home in Blairgowrie where he has chaired the government’s resilience task force.

And that he is not among those affected by the power cut in parts of Blairgowrie and Alyth

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