Nearly 20,000 homes in the UK were without power for a fourth night yesterday as engineers battle to repair the damage done to electricity lines by Storm Arwen.
Energy provider SSEN remains at red-alert status for its north of Scotland network as its teams respond to widespread and extensive damage to its network caused by stormy weather.
The north-east of Scotland remains the worst affected, with police declaring a major incident in the region. Areas of Moray, Angus, Perthshire, Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders have also been impact by Storm Arwen.
SSEN said the storm had caused 'catastrophic damage', three times greater than that caused by the Beast from the East in 2018. Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the complexity of the recovery 'cannot be underestimated'.
The Energy Networks Association said the number of homes across the UK powerless as of 5pm yesterday was 66,000, although around a million homes and businesses are believed to have been damaged overall.
This comes as parts of the UK faced the coldest night of the autumn so far, including Shap in Cumbria, north-west England, which the Met Office said recorded the lowest temperature of the season so far at minus 8.7C (16.34F).
The Met Office said cold temperatures will be replaced by a warming trend on Monday, followed by another dip in temperatures on Wednesday night.
Spokesman Oli Claydon said: 'The whole of the UK will turn milder. The places that will hold on to the cold air the longest will be in the south-east of the UK. The low temperatures will return on Wednesday and Thursday night.
'However, I don't think it will be quite as low as we have seen before. It will still be below zero, but more like minus 4C (24.8F) or minus 5C (23F).'
The Prime Minister pledged to help Scotland cope with the aftermath of the storm, which saw swathes of the UK hit by strong winds, sleet and snow over the weekend, while former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron called for the Government to bring in the Army to assist.
Engineers brought over from Northern Ireland fixing power cables near Garlogie in Aberdeenshire, Scotland
The Met Office said cold temperatures will be replaced by a warming trend on Monday, followed by another dip in temperatures on Wednesday night
The ENA said drone and helicopter surveys have revealed problems in hard-to-reach areas, with one patrol finding almost 100 electrical poles snapped and needing to be replaced.
An ENA spokesperson said: 'Supporting and reconnecting customers is our absolute priority and our customer teams are working around the clock to contact customers and keep them informed.
'We are also working with other utilities, local authorities, emergency services and the British Red Cross to support this effort.'
Boris Johnson said the UK Government was standing by to help Scotland. In a tweet, he said: 'My thoughts are with those continuing to face any disruption
