POWER has been restored to more than 120,000 homes but 59,000 are still without supply in parts of the south.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) continues to respond to the impact of Storm Eunice.

The company remains at red alert status for central southern England as engineers assess the damage caused by strong winds.

Read more: Electricity company still on 'red alert' as outages in SP postcodes continue

As of 8.30am today, 120,000 homes have seen power restored, but another 59,600 in parts of Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Sussex and Dorset are still without supply.

A number of properties in SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6 and SP7 postcodes are also affected.

These should have power restored by 11pm, SSEN's power cuts map shows.

Read more: Live updates as Salisbury deals with aftermath of storm

Overall, supply problems for the majority of households affected are expected to be fixed by the end of the weekend.

However, SSEN has warned that those in rural areas or requiring complex repairs could have to wait until early next week.

What's the issue?

SSEN says extremely high winds have resulted in more than 1,000 points of damage on its overhead line network, well over 100 times that of an average day, with multiple points of damage caused by fallen and uprooted trees and other wind-borne debris.

A statement says: "Following ‘switching’ overnight, where we re-configure the network to bypass fault areas and restore power to customers, engineers have been out since first light to assess and complete overhead line repairs.

"This work will continue throughout the day, alongside a continuing assessment of the full extent of network damage via overhead line inspections and helicopter patrols where the weather permits. Conditions continue to be challenging with further high winds, blocked roads and further access issues."

Restoration timescale

The company says engineers are still working to determine the extent of the damage on its network.

A large number of customers should see power restored today while the vast majority by the end of the weekend.

However, a minority of customers in rural areas or requiring complex repairs will have to wait until early next week.

Richard Gough, the director of distribution system operations, said: “The hurricane-force winds of Storm Eunice have resulted in some of the most extreme and challenging conditions experienced in the south of England for decades, with significant impact on our overhead line network and multiple instances of damage in many areas.

“Our teams continue to work hard in very challenging conditions to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible with good progress made since winds subsided yesterday evening. We expect to make continued good progress today, but restoration efforts will be extensive and, as we continue to uncover further damage, we expect the restoration of some localised faults to extend into early next week.

“We apologise to our customers for the continued disruption and reassure them that we are making every effort to restore their power, while giving them the best available information in order to make informed choices. We are also prioritising support for our most vulnerable customers, working closely with our local resilience partners.

“We continue to urge people not to approach any damage to our equipment and instead, report it by calling 105 or logging on our Power Track App and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.”

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