MORE than 1000 homes in Scotland are facing a second weekend without power as further cold weather is predicted to hit the UK.
Homes across parts of Scotland and the North East and North West of England are still off supply a week after Storm Arwen hit on Friday, November 26.
As of early Friday evening, more than 9000 homes across Britain were without power, according to industry body the Energy Networks Association. Some 1250 of these affected homes are in Scotland.
Regulator Ofgem announced on Friday it had launched an “urgent” review into the response of energy network companies to the storm.
As work continued to restore power to the remaining homes still without, the Met Office said the weather is predicted to be cold, windy and showery with some hilly areas experiencing snow on Saturday.
#Snow has fallen and continues to fall across the high ground of #Scotland this morning, so take care if you are heading out onto the roads in this area❄️
— Met Office (@metoffice) December 4, 2021
Stay #WeatherAware pic.twitter.com/TBUmIGFr3W
The forecaster said Scotland will be cloudy in the morning with outbreaks of rain and hill snow, but drier and brighter by the afternoon with a few showers in the west.
Northern parts of the UK will see highs of 6C (42.8F) while the south will see highs of 8C (46.4F).
Frost is expected in colder parts of the UK, including central and western Scotland where temperatures may drop to -3C (26.6F) and -5C (23F).
Steve Keats, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: “In some ways, we’re expecting fairly typical early December weather this weekend and nothing too disruptive as expected.
“But a couple of points to watch for will be winds, which under normal circumstances wouldn’t be an issue but if you’re trying to repair downed power lines it’s more sensitive.
“Saturday is expected to be cold. There will be quite a mild windshield coming down from the northwest, so it’s going to feel not much above freezing for quite a lot of places.
“So if you’re out and about doing the Christmas shopping, put on some extra layers.”
READ MORE: Military helping communities still without power after Storm Arwen
The Energy Networks Association said 9200 homes were still without power, down from 15,000 on Thursday evening, following extensive damage to power lines after Storm Arwen.
The industry body said 1250 are in Scotland, 6650 are in the north east of England and 1300 are in the north west.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it had made good progress in restoring power, with more than 130,000 customers having power restored to them since the start of the storm.
By 10pm on Friday, 950 SSEN customers were still without power.
The majority of these are either single properties or small rural groups of homes located in Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Angus and Moray.
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