Many thousands of families are in dire need of water and power in northern Scotland, despite the recent Storm Arwen and new Arctic Blast.
Jenny Milne (44), who lives 30 miles away from Aberdeen near Inverurie told MailOnline that it was power poverty. We are in a crisis society. So why don’t we get the help that we need? It has been over a week.
“Politicians, the general public and even politicians don’t know what is happening.” Many people are still without electricity. According to the mother of one, the trees in the woods have become flattened.
Nicola Sturgeon tried to focus attention on Westminster because it did not give her enough money – despite Royal Marines being sent on Friday to knock doors and to ensure welfare of people on Friday.
Aberdeenshire is still in chaos. There are currently 3,000 households without electricity, and people are not able to get petrol. They are also unable make or receive calls because the masts have fallen.
Similar pain is also felt in the Scottish Borders, and north England by many more who were cut off after the storm hit last Friday.
This comes at a time when an Arctic Blast is threatening to disrupt the power grid with temperatures expected to plummet to -5C across parts of Scotland this weekend.
Drone photographs from Haddo House near Mrs Milne showed woodland completely flattened due to extreme winds.
Marines from 45 Commando are seen conducting welfare checks in Lumphanan, Scotland, on Friday
A car that was left stranded under the trees in Grampian after storm Arwen hit last weekend
Aberdeenshire, a huge fur tree spread across someone’s backyard
An ambulance tries to rescue a bus driver who was forced off the road by the cold conditions in Aberdeenshire.
According to the Met Office, a snowstorm is expected to strike Scotland today. This will bring about 9 cm of whiteness in the eastern regions of Scotland tomorrow. Eastern parts of Scotland are predicted to have highs of 2C today while western Scotland could reach 4C – before temperatures fall as low as -5C at the weekend
According to The Met Office, there will be a sudden snowstorm in Scotland this morning. Eastern parts of Scotland are expected to get 9cm.
Nearly 130 soldiers were sent out to conduct door-to-door inspections and provide welfare support in northeast Scotland. 1,600 customers of Southern Electricity Networks and Scottish Electricity Networks (SSEN), were still without power at 7am Friday.
Durham County Council stated that around 100 military personnel will remain south of the border in Weardale, to assist local residents.
According to Electricity North West in Cumbria 1,800 Cumbria homes are still without electricity. Most of them live in South Lakeland.
Jenny Milne (pictured), 44-year-old, lives 30 miles away from Aberdeen near Inverurie and told MailOnline that she believes it is power poverty. We are in a crisis society. So why don’t we get the help we deserve? It has been over a week.
According to the Scottish Borders council, another 500 properties remain without power.
On Friday, Mrs Milne took her son, 11 years old, to Edinburgh for an appointment.
After their home was cut off by the power, Aviemore’s transport entrepreneur wife managed to flee to Aviemore. They have returned to their homes to discover that many neighbours are still having to deal.
One local farmer was having 30,000 litres of water hauled in by Scottish Water to keep his sheep alive.
Milne stated that one of her neighbours had only received power last night.
She added that she received text messages stating the power was on, but not the next day.
Milne has four horses.
The mother said that energy provider SSEN appeared to be doing their best to make repairs but that the damage was catastrophic.
Drone photographs from Haddo House near where Mrs Milne resides showed woodland completely flattened last weekend by extreme winds.
Her description also included the fact that many were living very literally in the darkness, unable to connect with outsiders or view the television to understand what was happening.
While people donate food to their local community centers for years, the majority of those who are in need do not know that it exists because they can’t access the internet.
‘[The Government] are not reacting to this and they are not seeing the reality of this threat,’ Mrs Milne said.
“This is a long-term project, with poor planning and infrastructure. They have had to make cuts, and that’s what happens when you do these kinds of cuts. There’s no Plan B.
Aberdeenshire: Largely felled trees found in the woodland where power masts were removed by bad weather
One conifer is seen across a rural lane in Aberdeenshire. Left, trees that were cut in half are visible over another lane.
A forest was destroyed by Storm Arwen, which struck Northern Scotland last Friday with wind gusts of over 100 mph
Extreme weather caused trees to fall, along with phone and electricity masts.
SNP leader Ms Sturgeon turned down an offer from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who stated that he would provide support for the Scottish Government.
However, this didn’t involve money so the First Minister refuted him in Holyrood.
The Prime Minister stated via Twitter that the UK Government would help Scotland in its response to the damage caused by the storm. Yesterday, we received confirmation from the Treasury, which confirmed that there was no financial assistance involved.
Royal Marines went door-to-door in 4,000 houses to check that people were safe, and offered to provide food.
SSEN reported that power was restored to over 129,000 customers after Storm Arwen struck. This is despite what Chris Burchell, managing director of SSEN stated as “catastrophic damage” to the electricity grid.
According to the company, properties without power are mostly located in remote and rural communities with Aberdeenshire being the most affected.
Ben Wallace, Defense Secretary of the UK said that they were always willing to help civil authorities throughout the UK during times of crisis. He also noted that it was great to see Scottish units supporting local communities.
“Our dedicated Armed Forces will carry out door-to–door checks of individuals in their homes to provide essential support to the people impacted by storm Arwen.
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, stated that around 130 soldiers have been deployed to Grampian in northern Scotland. This region is home to 3,000 people who have lost heat and light due to 100-mph winds which damaged power lines.
This photograph was taken by the Energy Networks Association and shows a snowy powerline that has fallen in the snow. The location is unknown.
According to Durham County Council in England, the request for military assistance was made by Darlington Local Resilience Forum and County Durham.
John Hewitt (chairman of LRF’s strategic coordinating committee) stated: “We are doing everything possible to support residents who have been affected by power cuts, whether that be providing emergency supplies or simply checking in and making sure all is okay.”
He said, “We are extremely grateful to the Ministry of Defence for their approval of our request for assistance and that there are troops already on the ground supporting our communities.”
According to the council, servicemen and woman based at St John’s Chapel, Weardale will make door-to-door checks on residents’ well-being and provide any support needed.
They’ll also update you on progress to restore power, and get your feedback on concerns.