UK Power Networks sends 164 staff and 50 generators north in mutual aid response

UK Power Networks sent 164 specialist staff and 50 generators to help restore power to people without electricity after Storm Éowyn, the company announced on 29 January 2025. The staff and contractor teams, mainly from across the South East and the East of England, travelled north at the weekend to areas including Scotland and Northern Ireland as part of the industry's collaboration¹.

Fifty mobile generators were also driven to where they were most needed¹. UK Power Networks said destructive winds over 100mph blew debris and trees onto power lines across Northern Ireland and Scotland in particular, making roads impassable and cutting off supplies to hundreds of thousands of customers in what was reported as one of the biggest storms to hit in a decade¹. The company had extra teams ready for Met Office National Yellow Weather Warnings of wind, but said the brunt of the weather and rare Red Weather Warnings hit other areas of the UK from Friday¹.

Travis Clark, a UK Power Networks manager based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was working on 29 January as a tactical resource coordinator with Northern Ireland Electricity Networks, operating out of Enniskillen and Craigavon. The company also has teams with ESB Networks in Monaghan, Cavan and Galway¹. He described the conditions and the damage:

He said teams were working in mountainous areas and boggy terrain, clearing trees from roads to reach repair sites, and that high voltage repairs were being carried out first, with more damage expected on the low voltage network underneath. He compared the scale to Storm Arwen in 2021, which he supported through mutual aid arrangements¹.

Steve McDonald, director of field operations at Northern Powergrid, said his teams had been repairing damage across the North East, Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire and thanked UK Power Networks colleagues for additional support. He said the industry would continue to collaborate across the UK once damage in his region was repaired¹.

Why it matters for households

The deployment affects households in Northern Ireland and Scotland in particular, where supplies to hundreds of thousands of customers were cut, and in the North East, Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire, where Northern Powergrid reported damage¹. The company said repairs were starting on the high voltage network, with more damage expected on the lower voltage network beneath it, and that the work would take time¹. Households who may need priority support during a long outage can read about extra help from network operators during long outages, and Northern Ireland customers can find reporting and contact details in the guide to NIE Networks, reporting and help. Background on how storms affect supplies is in storms and the electricity network, and on who runs the grid in how Britain's electricity network is run. The power cuts hub covers the wider subject, including looking after a fish tank without electricity.

What happens next

UK Power Networks said it would continue to collaborate with industry colleagues to support the effort across the UK once damage in its own regions was repaired, according to Steve McDonald of Northern Powergrid¹. No timetable for full restoration has been reported.