Power cuts across Andover and central southern England have now been repaired following high winds and snow yesterday.

Around 13,800 Scottish and Southern Electricity Network (SSEN) customers were affected by the weather damage at 9am on Wednesday, but the company said today it has “returned to business as usual.”

Snow, combined with high winds and lightning, had caused damage to SSEN’s overhead network resulting in a number of faults across the region.

The main affected areas were Andover, Basingstoke, Melksham, Newbury, Oxfordshire and Swindon.

SSEN director of customer operations Craig Gilroy said: “We understand how frustrating a loss of power can be, especially over the festive season, and I would like to thank our customers for their patience as our teams battled throughout the day and into the night to restore power following yesterday morning’s weather event. 

“I’d also like to thank our front line and support teams for their dedication and hard work in restoring supplies in challenging conditions.

“We have now returned to business as usual, but with potential high winds forecast for later this week, we will continue to closely monitor the situation to ensure we remain well prepared to respond to whatever further challenges the British winter has in store for us.”

The electricity provider previously advised customers not to approach any damage to its equipment and instead, report the damage by calling 105 so SSEN’s engineers can investigate the issue.

For more information on how to deal with power cuts visit www.ssen.co.uk/Powercuts/Whattodo/