Travel disrupted, thousands without power after Storm Gerrit

London [UK], December 29: Thousands of homes remained without power and motorists and rail passengers faced continued disruption after Storm Gerrit battered the country.
Engineers were working to restore power to around 7,700 customers as of 11am (1100 GMT) on Thursday, though Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution warned some could be without a supply into Friday.
High winds, heavy rain and snow damaged electricity networks in some parts of the country while a Met Office yellow weather warning was in force across much of Scotland throughout Wednesday.
SSEN said its workers have faced wind speeds of 129 kilometres per hour in some coastal areas as they worked to reconnect customers.
The weather conditions also disrupted travel, with some drivers trapped for hours on the A9, which was closed at Drumotcher in the Highlands due to snow.
The A9 has since reopened, including a section further north at Scrabster which had been blocked by fallen trees.
The A82 between Spean bridge and Invergarry has also reopened, but the road between Invergarry and Invermoriston remains closed. The A96 at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, is also closed.
Some rail routes have now reopened after safety checks were carried out, though others will remain closed for the rest of Thursday. The Inverness-Aberdeen, Helensburgh-Balloch and Dumbarton-Damuir routes have fully reopened. But Cupar-Dundee and Kilmarnock-Dumfries services remain off for the day. SSEN said that as of 11am on Thursday, supplies had been restored to some 34,000 customers, with around 7,700 left without power.
Andy Smith, SSEN distribution operations director, said: "Our teams continue to make really good progress in restoring power following the significant impact of Storm Gerrit.
"I know it's caused problems for our customers, and I'm grateful to them for their patience. I'd like to reassure customers we've got every resource at our disposal out there, fixing faults on the network. "Adverse conditions on the roads hampered our efforts last night, but thankfully conditions have improved this morning and we're making progress with the work that needs to be done.
"But it will take time to complete all repairs. Some customers in rural areas where there are multiple points of damage will be without power until Friday." He said welfare vans providing hot food and drink have been sent to some of the areas affected, including Grantown, Fort Augustus, Fraserburgh and Banchory.
Stein Connelly, head of transport resilience at Transport Scotland, urged people to plan ahead when travelling.
He said: "It's been an extremely challenging period for the transport network. The partnership response to Storm Gerrit continues and our trunk road operating companies are working hard to open roads as soon as possible.
"On the A96 at Huntly, the road remains closed in both directions due to flooding, with teams continuing to work to clear the water this morning. The weather has improved and the Met Office warnings have ended, but people may still encounter difficult driving conditions due to surface water and flooding."
Source: Qatar Tribune