Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said that as of 7pm on Sunday 8 December, 82,151 customers in central southern England had had their supplies restored following Storm Darragh, with 4,140 properties still without power1. The company said work was progressing well to reconnect the remaining properties, and that restoration for around 900 customers who lost supplies on Saturday 7 December was expected to go into Monday1.
The storm brought gusts of 70 mph that are usually confined to the coasts reaching far inland, and SSEN described it as by far the worst of the winter so far1. A 900-strong team worked through Sunday to fix faults, remove fallen trees and support customers1. Earlier in the weekend, SSEN reported that supplies had been restored to 47,000 customers as of 8:30pm on Saturday 7 December, with work ongoing to reconnect a further 19,000 homes and businesses after sustained severe winds caused further faults2. Gusts of 75 mph were recorded in Portland, 71 mph in Yeovil, 64 mph on the Isle of Wight and 61 mph in Odiham during Saturday2.
By Monday 9 December, SSEN said it had reconnected almost 87,000 customers, the vast majority of those who lost supplies, with work continuing to reconnect 655 households and a target of completing that by the end of the day3. The company said almost one thousand team members had worked across the region, its contact centre had taken calls from 20,000 customers, it had been in touch with almost 73,000 Priority Service Register customers, served almost 4,000 meals from hot food vans and recorded almost 240,000 visits to its website3.
On Tuesday 10 December, SSEN said it had reconnected all customers in central southern England who lost power during the storm, and had returned to business as usual operating status at 11pm the previous night as the final homes were reconnected4. It said work would continue over the coming days to bring the network back to full operational health4.
"Work continues today to reconnect 655 households as safely and quickly as we can, and our target is to have this done by the end of the day."
SSEN set out its support payments for affected customers. Customers who have had no power for more than 12 hours are entitled to £30 per person for every day without power, to cover the cost of food and drink, with receipts to be kept and costs claimed back1. Customers on SSEN's Priority Service Register can claim reasonable costs for alternative accommodation if it is expected they will be without power for over 24 hours, and if a power cut is estimated to last beyond 48 hours, all customers can benefit from this support1.
| Support | Eligibility |
|---|---|
| £30 per person per day for food and drink | No power for more than 12 hours1 |
| Reasonable costs for alternative accommodation | Priority Service Register customers, where power is expected to be off for over 24 hours1 |
| Alternative accommodation costs | All customers, where a power cut is estimated to last beyond 48 hours1 |
Why it matters for households
Storm Darragh showed how quickly a household's electricity supply can become dependent on a network operator's ability to reach and repair faults. SSEN said conditions for repairs were challenging, with some roads blocked by fallen trees and wind speeds at times too high for line crews to work safely at height2. For a home with no backup power, that means the length of an outage is set by factors outside the household's control: access to faults, weather and the number of localised faults across a wide area1.
The event also illustrates the difference between a short interruption and a prolonged one. SSEN's support thresholds are time-based, at 12, 24 and 48 hours, and the accommodation element widens from Priority Service Register customers to all customers only once an outage is estimated to pass 48 hours1. Households that rely on electricity for medical equipment or aids are among those eligible for the Priority Service Register, alongside people who are deaf or hard of hearing, have a disability, live with children under five, are blind or partially sighted, have a chronic illness or are over 601. SSEN said all its priority services are free1.
SSEN's own account of the storm response, including how it handles faults and priority customers, is set out in its network operations information, and the wider picture of how supply interruptions are managed sits within national supply.
What happens next
SSEN said work would continue over the coming days to bring the network back to full operational health after the final homes were reconnected and it returned to business as usual status at 11pm on Monday 9 December4. No further restoration dates have been reported.