Hundreds of homes without power as icy blast starts 2026

• UPDATE — Power has since been restored to homes in the West Mainland, with some properties in Sanday affected by a separate outage on Friday.

Hundreds of Orkney homes are without power, this Friday, as an icy blast ushers in 2026.

A dump of snow, which came with strong winds on New Year’s Day, has settled on the ground – making for tricky driving conditions.

Orkney Islands Council (OIC) has had gritters out this morning to treat priority roads, but advises caution and for folk to drive appropriately to the weather conditions.

One gritter has come off the road in Hoy, meaning that roads there will go untreated until a replacement can be sent out in the next couple of days.

SSEN says it is working to restore power to approximately 900 homes in the West Mainland. The council has urged members of the community there to check in on elderly and vulnerable family and friends who may be affected.

Currently, a yellow weather warning is to remain in place for Orkney until Monday (inclusive), with temperatures as low as -3°C forecast by the Met Office.