'Worst conditions in 20 years': Major incident in Shetland as thousands without power - and more snow and ice warnings

14 December 2022, 08:05

A major weather incident has been declared after thousands of homes were left without power in Shetland, with snow and ice continuing to cause chaos across the UK.

Engineers are working to restore power to thousands of homes in Shetland, after supply was knocked out during the wintry weather.

Some of the homes could be without any power for the rest of the week.

A total of nearly 3,800 homes are understood to have no power.

Local teams have reportedly said it’s the worst conditions they have seen in 20 years.

SSEN Distribution said: "We expect to make progress today in restoring customers on Yell and Unst through repair of the main network, but due to the extent of damage, significant travel restrictions and continued issues accessing fault locations, full restoration of customers is likely to extend to the end of this week.”

Shetland’s Sumburgh airport is only operating emergency flights and schools have been closed until today.

Multiple vehicles have become stuck and were stranded in other locations on the islands.

A temperature of -17.3C was recorded in Braemar, Aberdeenshire early on Tuesday morning.

Yellow warnings for snow and icy conditions for northern Scotland and north-east England have been extended until Friday.

Snow and ice warnings are still in place in the South West until 10am.

"There will be a risk of ice across the country over the next few days," said a Met Office spokesperson.

The South West could see a further 1-2cm of snow and up to 10cm on higher ground.

Warnings of ice are still in place in eastern England and in northern parts of Northern Ireland until noon today.