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Power restored to north of Scotland Investigation begins into Highland power cut
(35 minutes later)
Electricity has been restored to customers after a widespread power cut affected much of northern Scotland. A power cut which blacked out most of northern Scotland may have started with a fault on a line between Moray and Inverness.
The black-out stretched from Fort William in the Highlands through Moray and Caithness to Orkney and Shetland. Electricity has been restored to customers.
The black-out stretched from Fort William in the Highlands through Moray and Caithness to Orkney.
The Western Isles and Skye were also thought to be among the areas hit by the outage, which started at about 20:30 on Wednesday.The Western Isles and Skye were also thought to be among the areas hit by the outage, which started at about 20:30 on Wednesday.
More than 200,000 properties were affected at the height of the disruption.More than 200,000 properties were affected at the height of the disruption.
Some rail services to and from Inverness were delayed.Some rail services to and from Inverness were delayed.
A statement on the Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution website said: "Our contingency procedures worked effectively and we were able to restore power to all customers in around three hours. Flavia Patterson, a spokeswoman for Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution, said: "We started looking into what could have caused the fault last night.
"Our immediate priority was to ensure all customers were back on supply as quickly and safely as possible; having achieved that, we will now investigate the cause of the problem. "We've been out at first light and we're mobilising a helicopter this morning to fly the line in the area.
"We would like to thank any affected customers for their patience while we worked to restore power." "It looks to us like the fault occurred between Moray and south of Inverness so that's the area we're concentrating on.
"We're looking at whether there was weather-related damage or whether there was some kind of debris - whether something physically affected the infrastructure."
'Serious power outage''Serious power outage'
Alex Salmond chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee (SGoRR), which is activated in the event of widespread or complex emergencies.Alex Salmond chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee (SGoRR), which is activated in the event of widespread or complex emergencies.
A Scottish government spokesman said: "There has been a serious power outage that affected large parts of the north of Scotland this evening.A Scottish government spokesman said: "There has been a serious power outage that affected large parts of the north of Scotland this evening.
"First Minister Alex Salmond, in Stornoway following (Wednesday's) Scottish government cabinet meeting, chaired a SGoRR meeting where he was updated on the network operator's progress in restoring power to affected homes.""First Minister Alex Salmond, in Stornoway following (Wednesday's) Scottish government cabinet meeting, chaired a SGoRR meeting where he was updated on the network operator's progress in restoring power to affected homes."
The Highlands and Islands Local Resilience Partnership (HILRP) said "in the region of" 205,000 homes were affected at the peak of the disruption.The Highlands and Islands Local Resilience Partnership (HILRP) said "in the region of" 205,000 homes were affected at the peak of the disruption.
HILRP said the power company informed it that all power had been restored by 00:30.HILRP said the power company informed it that all power had been restored by 00:30.