Shetlanders could face several more days without power as weather deteriorates

People living on Shetland could be without electricity until the end of the week as the freezing weather conditions worsen.

The Scottish Government declared a major incident on Tuesday after thousands of homes lost power on Monday afternoon as heavy snow brought down lines.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution is working to reconnect around 2,800 homes and has sent teams of engineers to Shetland.

Emma Macdonald, leader of Shetland Islands Council, said: “We don’t normally get much snow, we get a lot of wind and gales, and it has had a significant impact.

“We have so many lines down and people could be without electricity until the end of the week.

“About 70 engineers have come across on the boat (from the mainland) and they are doing everything they can, but it is a challenging task as the weather is poor and the wind is picking up.

“It’s not the fault of the power company, they are doing everything they can to get connected.

“We are a resilient community and are often cut off during the winter if the ferry doesn’t run.

“We do all pull together.”

SSEN spokesman Graeme Keddie told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “This has been a very concentrated and explosive weather event on Shetland which was far more severe than forecast.

“The local teams have said this is the worst they’ve seen since 1995 over the Christmas period.”

The Met Office has extended a yellow warning for snow and ice covering northern Scotland and north-east England until noon on Friday.

Minus 17.3C was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire on Monday into Tuesday, making it the coldest place in the UK for the second night in a row.

Heavy snow showers fell in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire early on Wednesday and motorists were warned to drive with care.

Dozens of schools have been closed.

Met Office spokeswoman Becky White said areas covered by the latest weather warning could see up to 10cm of fresh snow on higher ground.

“We could see a good few new centimetres of snow accumulation,” she said.

“We could see around 1-4cm at lower levels and 5-10cm on higher ground across the Highlands.”

Snow and ice warnings are also in place in the South West until 10am on Wednesday.

Ms White continued: “There will be a risk of ice across the country over the next few days, but particularly tonight.

“There is a band of rain moving in from the South West, but it may turn into snow as it reaches land.”

She added that the South West could see 1-2cm of snow at lower levels, and 1-10cm on higher ground such as Dartmoor and Exmoor.

An ice warning is in place in eastern England until noon on Wednesday.

The national forecaster has also issued a yellow ice warning in northern parts of Northern Ireland, including Belfast, until noon on Wednesday.

In Sheffield, engineers said they had just over 100 households left to reconnect to gas as of Tuesday evening after nearly 2,000 homes in the city lost supplies 11 days earlier when a burst water main filled the local gas network with more than a million litres of water.