Power restored after major failure across north
POWER has been restored to thousands of homes following mass outages across the Highlands and Islands last night (Wednesday).
The blackout happened shortly after 8.30pm and at its peak affected around 205,000 homes across the north and into Moray.
Within two hours the number affected was reduced to around 95,000 and by 11pm around 25,000 homes were still without power.
At 12.30am SSE said power had been fully restored across the region.
Last night First Minister Alex Salmond said: "This was a serious power outage affecting communities across the Highlands and Islands, including Stornoway, where I am meeting with members of my Cabinet tomorrow.
"Earlier this evening I chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government Resilience Committee where it was made clear the network operator was working quickly to restore power to all affected homes. I welcome the news that action has now been completed tonight."
See more on this story in Friday's John O'Groat Journal.