Storm Floris brings severe winds and widespread disruption to Scotland

Storm Floris brought severe winds and widespread disruption to northern Scotland on 4 and 5 August 2025, the Met Office reported. The storm was the sixth named storm of the 2024/2025 season¹. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN), the distribution network operator for the north of Scotland, said the storm was confirmed as a Category 2 Severe Weather Event².

Wick Airport in Caithness recorded a gust of 71Kt (82mph), equalling Scotland's August gust speed record set at Fair Isle, Shetland on 30 August 1992¹. The Met Office said the strongest winds were across northern parts of Scotland, exceeding 50Kt (58mph) widely and 60Kt (69mph) in the worst affected areas¹. SSEN separately reported an 83mph gust on the coast at Wick at 7pm on Monday evening, which it said could be a record for that low altitude in August⁴. The Met Office's figure of 71Kt (82mph) and SSEN's 83mph are not the same measurement.

Source: Met Office¹. Across Scotland's mountain summits, wind speeds reached 108Kt (124mph) at Cairngorm Summit, Inverness-shire¹.

More than 30 stations across the network recorded gust speeds of 50Kt (58mph) or higher, with 13 reaching 60Kt (69mph) or higher¹. The Met Office said that while this would not be unusual in the winter months, this number of stations in the summer months makes this one of the most severe summer wind storms to affect the UK in observational records, although not unprecedented¹.

On power, the Met Office reported that over 70,000 properties in the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire lost power supplies¹. SSEN said that as of 7:15am on Tuesday 5 August it had restored power to 50,000 homes, with work ongoing to restore supplies to the remaining 22,000 properties⁴. By 5:30pm on Wednesday 6 August, power had been restored to over 70,000 customers, over 98% of those who lost supply, with 1,470 properties still to reconnect, most of them in parts of the Highlands including the Great Glen, Sheildaig, Conon Falls, Conon Bridge, Tain and Evanton².

On transport, the East Coast Main Line was closed north of Newcastle and West Coast Main Line passengers were advised not to travel north of Preston¹. Scotland's rail network was also disrupted with some ferry services cancelled, most of Scotland's bridges were closed to certain vehicles and some altogether, and dozens of flights to and from UK airports were cancelled¹. The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo was cancelled and several botanic gardens closed as a precaution¹.

Why it matters for households

Households across the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire were affected by loss of supply, with the final pockets of customers in the Highlands still off supply on the evening of Wednesday 6 August². SSEN said the impact was particularly acute in the Great Glen, Sheildaig, Conon Falls, Conon Bridge, Tain and Evanton⁵. It attributed the damage partly to trees being in full leaf at the height of summer, making them heavier and more susceptible to blowing over in storm-force gusts³.

SSEN set out a support package. Customers without power for more than 12 hours are entitled to £30 per person for every day off supply, to cover the cost of food and drink, with receipts kept and costs claimed back². Customers on the Priority Services Register can claim reasonable costs for alternative accommodation if they are without power for over 24 hours, and if a power cut is estimated to last beyond 48 hours, all customers can benefit from this support⁶. Because the storm was confirmed as a Category 2 Severe Weather Event, customers without power for more than 48 hours continuously receive a Guaranteed Standards payment of £85.00 and a subsequent payment of £45.00 for each continuous 6 hour period without power thereafter; SSEN said these payments are issued automatically and customers do not need to make a claim². SSEN said its specialist Priority Services Team was regularly calling customers with vulnerabilities where possible, and that it was working with MERT Highland to visit the most vulnerable customers in their homes, as the storm had caused issues with mobile networks².

SSEN advised people who see damage to its equipment to stay back, not touch it and report it by calling 105 or via its Power Track website². It encouraged customers to save the emergency power cut number 105². Its Priority Services Register is free and open to customers who 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 60⁶. SSEN said text messages were sent to over 100,000 of its more vulnerable customers on the Saturday before the storm, with help and advice on preparing for loss of power⁶.

What happens next

SSEN said the focus of the restoration operation was to reconnect the final pockets of customers who lost power during Monday's storm by Thursday night, and that its aim was to repair the last remaining outages in Aberdeenshire by the end of Wednesday evening². It said letters would be sent to customers eligible for Guaranteed Standards payments separately to the cheques, advising that a cheque is on its way and including fault information and the amount³.

For household preparation, see storms and the electricity network, the power cuts guide, travel disruption in bad weather and the Priority Services Register guide.