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Energy bosses caused disbelief by blaming power cuts that left thousands blacked out for more than a week on wind coming from the wrong direction.
Hundreds of homes and businesses were without electricity again yesterday in the wake of Storm Barra just as properties were finally reconnected 12 days after Storm Arwen.
The suggestion that Arwen’s north-easterly gales caused more damage than would be expected from the prevailing south-westerly wind stunned MPs, who said power networks should be ‘prepared for wind coming in multiple directions’.
Paul McGimpsey, of the Energy Networks Association, told the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee that the wind coming from the North East meant that in many cases ‘trees would fall differently on to the lines’.
Committee chairman Darren Jones expressed incredulity at the suggestion that networks might base plans on wind coming only ‘in a certain direction’.
A fallen tree blocks the A702 near Coulter in South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK and Ireland with disruptive