Nearly 20,000 homes spend FOURTH night without power after Storm Arwen damage

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A four-day Arctic blast of snow and -3 temperatures could be set to hit the UK from tomorrow, forecasters have warned.

Wintery showers are expected to sweep in from Wednesday, turning to snow in areas of the north just days after Storm Arwen battered the country.

Heavy rain and gales are expected to hit tonight, with three flood alerts in place across the Midlands and Norwich where residents are being told to ‘be prepared’ and plan car journeys carefully. 

Today the UK enjoyed much milder 12C temperatures, but from tomorrow the mercury will plunge to -6C in Scotland, and -3C in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Met Office meteorologist Alex Deakin said: ‘Temperatures up and down this week.

‘A weather system, with some milder air tucked in, could bring wet weather hitting the colder air on Wednesday night and Thursday that might have a bit of snow mixed into it.’

Separately another forecaster said there would be potentially wintry conditions in the northwest. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the Government is doing everything in its power to restore electricity to the 50,000 homes who are still without it after Storm Arwen battered the country this weekend.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Mr Johnson said: ‘I’m extremely sympathetic to everyone who has suffered these power outages and it must be appalling.

‘One million homes lost their electricity, 950,000 have now seen that electricity restored but clearly for 50,000 people that is not good enough.

‘I want to reassure everybody that we’re working as hard as we can to get power back to those homes. All I can say is that the gusts were going at 100mph and talking to the people that operate the grid, they’re saying that there was nothing they could do about it.

‘But we are doing everything we can to restore power now, talking to Northern Powergrid and everybody else to get that fixed and I appreciate it may be a very tough time for those homes that are without power.’

Energy provider SSEN remains at red-alert status for its north of Scotland network as its teams respond to widespread and extensive damage to its network caused by stormy weather.

The north-east of Scotland remains the worst affected, with police declaring a major incident in the region. Areas of Moray, Angus, Perthshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders have also been impact by Storm Arwen.

SSEN said the storm had caused ‘catastrophic damage’, three times greater than that caused by the Beast from the East in 2018. Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the complexity of the recovery ‘cannot be underestimated’.

The Energy Networks Association said the number of homes across the UK powerless as of 5pm yesterday was 66,000, although around a million homes and businesses are believed to have been damaged overall.

This comes as parts of the UK faced the coldest night of the autumn so far, including Shap in Cumbria, north-west England, which the Met Office said recorded the lowest temperature of the season so far at minus 8.7C (16.34F). 

The Prime Minister pledged to help Scotland cope with the aftermath of the storm, which saw swathes of the UK hit by strong winds, sleet and snow over the weekend, while former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron called for the Government to bring in the Army to assist.

The ENA said drone and helicopter surveys have revealed problems in hard-to-reach areas, with one patrol finding almost 100 electrical poles snapped and needing to be replaced.

An ENA spokesperson said: ‘Supporting and reconnecting customers is our absolute priority and our customer teams are working around the clock to contact customers and keep them informed.

‘We are also working with other utilities, local authorities, emergency services and the British Red Cross to support this effort.’

Boris Johnson said the UK Government was standing by to help Scotland. In a tweet, he said: ‘My thoughts are with those continuing to face any disruption caused by Storm Arwen. The situation in the north east of Scotland is among the most concerning and while forecasts are improving, we are on stand-by to provide further assistance to the Scottish Government.’

In the Commons, Mr Farron said ‘These people are facing their fourth night without electricity. We need support tonight to help the hard work of the engineers working around the clock to fix those connections, to increase their numbers. That may well mean bringing in the Army.’

He added: ‘We also need support for the amazing community volunteers helping vulnerable people and families who are cold, hungry and suffering in other ways. After four nights without power, most people become vulnerable.’

In Wales, rail services will be affected this week as trains that ran over debris-littered tracks are repaired, Transport for Wales said. 

The London Ambulance Service and charity Age UK have urged people to look out for elderly relatives who are most likely to suffer adverse health effects in cold weather.

Age UK advised people to keep moving and ensure they get their winter vaccines, while LAS urged people to check on their grandparents.

LAS said in a statement: ‘Please look out for family, friends and neighbours who may be vulnerable in colder weather.

‘Just popping in for a cup of tea and making sure they are stocked with groceries and their heating is working could make a huge difference.’

An SSEN spokesperson said: ‘Since the start of Storm Arwen at around lunchtime on Friday, power has been restored to over 103,000 customers in total, with 17,000 customers currently off supply.

‘This includes: Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire: 9,700, Moray: 3,500, Angus: 1,600 and Perthshire: 1,700.’

Mark Rough, director of customer operations at SSEN, said: ‘We continue to make good progress following the extensive network damage caused by Storm Arwen, with additional teams assisting with restoration efforts and major connections made to locations such as Ballater and Braemar.

‘Our engineers are still experiencing challenging conditions and multiple faults on individual circuits, with complex repairs under way that will take longer than normal.

‘The extent of the damage is also hampering the ability to re-route the network to restore supply.

‘We recognise that another day without power brings additional concern to those affected, and I’d like to apologise to all customers for the ongoing disruption and assure them that we are doing all we can to restore power.

‘We continue to prioritise support for vulnerable customers, through co-ordination with our resilience partners, and are also offering to reimburse reasonable costs for accommodation, where customers do not have any alternative option.’

SSEN continues to work closely with local and national resilience partners to help coordinate the community response.

As part of this, support is being prioritised for the most vulnerable Priority Services Register customers.

Rest centres have also been established at the following locations: Ballater at the Victoria and Albert Hall, Eassie & Nevay Hall, Fintry, Knockraich Farm, Strathyre Primary School, Aberfoyle Primary School and Doune Primary School.

In addition, the following welfare facilities will continue to support customers who remain off supply and will continue to provide hot food and drinks from 7am on Tuesday November 30.