Power could be restored by Monday

"Armies" of engineers have been trying to restore power to the West Mainland.

As many as 1,700 are still without power as SSEN say they hope to have power restored by Monday.

SSEN said in a statement that progress was made by engineers who arrived in Shetland during the week.

They said that due to severe damage sustained and access in the West Mainland, particularly West of Bixter, they “anticipated” that power can be restored by early next week.

The areas with most people affected are Walls, Rewick, Skeld, Papa Stour and Sandness, where there are more than 450 still without power.

People there, as well as Clousta, Twatt and Bixter should expect to have power by Monday.

Mark Macdonald, Head of Region at SSEN Distribution, thanked those affected for their patience during the last week.

He said: “Armies of engineers have descended upon Shetland over the past 48 hours to restore power to homes and businesses across the islands, and more are on their way. We’ve made significant progress today in continued challenging conditions, reconnecting 750 homes across the islands.

“Alongside an improvement in weather conditions and thanks to the incredible support from Shetland Islands Council and our resilience partners, the severe access issues we faced earlier today have eased. This has enabled our teams to have a clearer picture of the significant damage to our network and make good progress in restoring power to our customers.”