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Snow and ice bring further travel disruption to Scotland Arran and Argyll customers nearing power reconnection
(about 5 hours later)
Travel has been disrupted as further snow hit many parts of Scotland. Police have warned that many road surfaces remain icy. All but 450 homes on Arran and Kintyre could be reconnected to power grids by Wednesday night after being cut off during Friday's winter storm.
In addition to high-level routes, difficult conditions have been reported on parts of the motorway network. Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) said engineers had set up two temporary power stations to reconnect supplies while repairs were made to the network.
Problem areas included the M9 at Falkirk, the M8 at Livingston and the M8 in Glasgow. The utility firm said it hoped to have all affected customers on temporary supplies by the end of Thursday night.
Engineers are continuing to repair pylons and power lines in Kintyre in Argyll and on the Isle of Arran. Meanwhile, travel has been disrupted as more snow fell across Scotland.
Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) said it hoped to restore supplies to all customers affected by last week's snow storm by Thursday. At the peak of the storm damage, more than 20,000 homes across west and southern Scotland were cut off.
More than 1,600 homes have spent a fifth night without electricity. Five-night blackout
Eight pylons were damaged by sheets of ice and snow on Friday, three of them very seriously, plunging about 20,000 properties into darkness. Power was restored to affected areas across Dumfries and Galloway on Monday.
SSE said on Wednesday morning that 725 homes in Arran are still without power. SSE said eight pylons had been damaged by sheets of ice and snow in Argyll alone.
Campbeltown is back on, but 800 customers in outlying areas are still off. Twenty homes in Tarbert are still off. By Wednesday morning, the firm said that 725 homes in Arran were still without power for the fifth consecutive night.
A spokesman added: "Conditions continue to be challenging, but we believe that, providing no further significant damage to the network is found, customers who lost their supply as a result of the recent severe weather event should have electricity restored by the end of Thursday night." Power was restored to Campbeltown, but 800 customers in outlying areas were still cut off as well as 20 homes in Tarbert.
Scotland's Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, travelled to Campbeltown, Kintyre, on Tuesday to discuss the emergency response with officials from Argyll and Bute Council and to talk to local people affected by the power outage. SSE now aims to have power restored to all but 450 homes in Arran and Argyll by 18:00 on Wednesday with the remainder to follow by Thursday night.
"There's still a lot of people without power and that has to be an absolute priority," she said. A spokesman added: "Conditions continue to be challenging, but we believe that, providing no further significant damage to the network is found, customers who lost their supply as a result of the recent severe weather event should have electricity restored by the end of Thursday night.
"After every event like this, there's a process of learning lessons, looking back to see how the response has been, seeing what could have been done to prevent the impact being as severe in the future.
"But at the moment the focus is clearly getting everything back to normal as quickly as possible."
Some homes have been connected to temporary generators but Ms Sturgeon said the hope was that by Saturday "everybody will be back onto the grid".
Finance Secretary John Swinney has activated the Bellwin Scheme to allow additional revenue support to local authorities hit by the snow storms.Finance Secretary John Swinney has activated the Bellwin Scheme to allow additional revenue support to local authorities hit by the snow storms.
The scheme helps councils in the wake of large-scale incidents.The scheme helps councils in the wake of large-scale incidents.
All schools in Arran are to remain closed for the rest of the week.All schools in Arran are to remain closed for the rest of the week.
North Ayrshire Council said pupils involved in exams would get support on their return from the Easter break.North Ayrshire Council said pupils involved in exams would get support on their return from the Easter break.
Travel disruption
Argyll and Bute Council said a few of its schools were closed due to having no electricity.Argyll and Bute Council said a few of its schools were closed due to having no electricity.
Meanwhile, travel has been disrupted as further snow hit many parts of Scotland. Police have warned that many road surfaces remain icy.
In addition to high-level routes, difficult conditions have been reported on parts of the motorway network.
Problem areas included the M9 at Falkirk, the M8 at Livingston and the M8 in Glasgow.
A number of roads have been badly affected in the Scottish Borders.A number of roads have been badly affected in the Scottish Borders.
An accident partly blocked the A72 between Innerleithen and Walkerburn and there were reports of other minor accidents on the A7 and A68.An accident partly blocked the A72 between Innerleithen and Walkerburn and there were reports of other minor accidents on the A7 and A68.
Snow and ice also closed roads in Aberdeenshire and caused delays in Aberdeen.Snow and ice also closed roads in Aberdeenshire and caused delays in Aberdeen.