Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said on 9 December 2025 that it had further scaled up its response ahead of Storm Bram, with potentially damaging winds forecast across much of its network area in northern Scotland1. The company said the forecast had deteriorated over the past day and that the Met Office had expanded its Amber and Yellow Warnings for Tuesday and Wednesday1.
SSEN said gusts would be strongest in the Western Isles, the West Highlands and on Skye, where 90 mph winds are possible, with potential for 65 mph gusts in Caithness and Orkney, across Perthshire and Angus, and through the Great Glen1. It said several hours of heavy rain across Scotland were being followed by sustained storm-force winds that would persist well into Wednesday morning1. The company said it expected the network impact to be most acute and extensive in the area covered by the Met Office's expanded and lengthened amber warning, and that access to repair sites might be hindered by fallen trees and other storm debris1.
The additional steps listed by SSEN were1:
| Measure | Detail |
|---|---|
| Planned maintenance | All planned network maintenance for Wednesday cancelled |
| Crews | Extra network maintenance crews on the Western Isles, in Skye and at the Fort William depot |
| Switching teams | More teams working late into the evening to reconfigure the network around damage |
| Tree cutting | Number of tree-cutting teams on shift doubled |
| Contact centre | Extra people on duty to take calls and respond to social media messages |
| Customer contact | Text messages sent to nearly 180,000 customers in the areas most likely to be affected |
SSEN said its specialist Priority Services team was continuing to contact customers already registered for free support during a power cut1. It said customers are also eligible for Priority Services if they are deaf or hard of hearing, have a disability, live with children under five, are blind or partially sighted, have a chronic illness, use medical equipment or aids reliant on electricity, or are over 601. The number for Priority Services is 0800 294 32591.
"These factors mean it may take longer to get everyone's supply reconnected. However, our teams will complete this work as safely and quickly as they can, and it's likely power will come on sooner than expected if we can remotely reroute the network."
Why it matters for households
The warning covers northern Scotland, with the strongest gusts expected in the Western Isles, the West Highlands and Skye, and the company expects the most extensive effects on supplies within the expanded amber warning area1. SSEN said the winds would persist well into Wednesday morning1. Households already on the Priority Services Register are being contacted, and the company has texted nearly 180,000 customers in the areas most likely to be affected1. SSEN encourages customers to save the emergency power cut number 105 to report any loss of supply or damage to the network, and to use its Power Track website for details of power cuts and restoration times1. It asks anyone who sees damage to its equipment to stay back, not touch it, and report it on 105 or via Power Track1. Households can check whether they qualify for the Priority Services Register and what it provides, and our guide to storms and the electricity network sets out what happens during storm-related cuts.
What happens next
SSEN said it would continue to monitor the weather closely and issue further updates depending on the forecast1. Its switching teams were due to work late into the evening of 9 December, and the storm-force winds are expected to persist well into Wednesday morning, 10 December1.
Storms and the Electricity Grid
