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UK Power Cuts: Live Count and Who to Call

As of 3 Nov, 16:17 GMT, the 4 network operators that publish open data reported 2,908 customers affected by unplanned power cuts across 58 incidents. This is a partial count, because not every operator shares live data.

To report a power cut, call 105 in England, Scotland or Wales, or 03457 643 643 in Northern Ireland. Your regional network operator repairs the fault, not your energy supplier.

If you see a fallen power line, stay at least 10 metres away and call 999.

Customers affected
2,908
Open feeds from 4 of 7 network operators
Network operators listed
7
Across 12 nations and regions
Weather warnings
0
Met Office
Outage time per customer (2025)
35 min
0.40 interruptions per customer

United Kingdom power cuts by nation or region

North East: 424 customers outNorth West: limited dataYorkshire and the Humber: 1,193 customers outEast Midlands: 2 customers outWest Midlands: 154 customers outEast of England: 22 customers outLondon: 46 customers outSouth East: 267 customers outSouth West: 716 customers outWalesScotland: 84 customers outNorthern Ireland: limited dataNorth EastNorth WestEast MidlandsWest MidlandsEast of EnglandLondonSouth EastSouth WestWalesScotlandNorthern Ireland
United Kingdom has 12 nations and regions, shown over a 800 by 900 map.

Boundaries: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2025.

  • Normal
  • Minor
  • Moderate
  • Major
  • Severe
  • Limited data

Live data: UK Power Networks open data, CC BY 4.0 · Supported by Northern Powergrid Open Data · SSEN open data, CC BY 4.0 · Supported by NGED Open Data

Choose your nation or region

Who to contact in the United Kingdom

Report and track a power cut with the company that repairs your local network

United Kingdom network operators, power cut map links and phone numbers
Network operatorOfficial power cut mapReport by phone
UK Power NetworksOpen ↗105 or 0800 31 63 105
National Grid Electricity DistributionOpen ↗105 or 0800 6783 105
Northern PowergridOpen ↗105 or 0800 375 675
SSENOpen ↗105
SP Energy NetworksOpen ↗105 or 0800 092 9290
SP Electricity North WestOpen ↗105 (option 1)
NIE NetworksOpen ↗03457 643 643

Your supplier can't fix a power cut

Britain separates the company that bills you from the company that owns the cables. Six groups run 14 regional licence areas, and NIE Networks covers Northern Ireland. They repair faults whichever supplier you use, so that's who you need when the lights go out. Calling 105 reaches your local operator from anywhere in England, Scotland or Wales.

Region names can mislead here, because licence areas don't follow region boundaries. Parts of west London are served by SSEN rather than UK Power Networks, and Wales is shared between National Grid and SP Energy Networks. Always confirm with your postcode on the operator's map.

How our live count works

There's no public national total for UK power cuts, so we add one up from open data. Four operators publish live feeds anyone can use: UK Power Networks, Northern Powergrid, SSEN and National Grid Electricity Distribution. Together they serve about 78% of UK customers.

We count only customers in unplanned power cuts that haven't been restored. Planned work is excluded, and so are map clusters and repeated postcode rows that would count the same customers twice. Regional totals are placed by postcode area, so they're approximate near boundaries.

The remaining operators, SP Energy Networks, SP Electricity North West and NIE Networks, are shown as not shared. That's why the North West and Northern Ireland appear as limited data, and it doesn't mean the power is on or off there.

Storms cause the biggest cuts

Wind is the dominant cause of large UK power cuts. Storm Darragh left over 2.3 million customers without power in December 2024. Storm Arwen cut power to over one million customers in November 2021. Most were back within a day, but the last weren't reconnected for 13 days.

Equipment failures are shorter but can reach a long way. On 9 August 2019, 1.15 million customers were disconnected automatically, and supplies returned within 45 minutes. The North Hyde substation fire in March 2025 cut power to 71,655 customers and led Heathrow to close.

Reading the reliability figures

Ofgem's 2024/25 average for Great Britain is 35 minutes lost and about 40 interruptions per 100 customers. Severe storms are adjusted out of these numbers, so Storm Darragh barely shows, which means real experience in a storm year is worse.

The gaps between areas are still useful. UK Power Networks' London licence lost about 10 minutes per customer, while SSEN's North of Scotland licence lost about 69.

Weather warnings

Current warnings issued by Met Office

Met Office lists no active warnings for this area.

Source: Met Office

United Kingdom power cut news

How the United Kingdom's grid works

Great Britain's electricity system is run by the National Energy System Operator (NESO), a publicly owned body established on 1 October 2024 from National Grid's former system operator. High-voltage transmission is owned by National Grid Electricity Transmission in England and Wales, SP Transmission in southern Scotland and SSEN Transmission in northern Scotland, while six groups run 14 regional distribution licence areas that repair local faults; Ofgem regulates them all. Northern Ireland is separate: SONI operates the grid, NIE Networks owns it, the Utility Regulator oversees it, and it connects to the Republic of Ireland and Scotland. In 2025 renewables supplied 52.1% of UK generation, led by wind at 29.5%, with gas at 31.8% and nuclear at 12.2%; it was the first full year with no coal generation. The UK was a net importer of 29.7 TWh through interconnectors with France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Ireland.

About the reliability figure: Great Britain only (Northern Ireland excluded). Ofgem's customer-weighted industry average for regulatory year 2024/25 (ending 31 March 2025), planned plus unplanned interruptions of 3 minutes or more, after severe weather exceptional event adjustments as submitted by DNOs and before Ofgem's final assessment. Source: Ofgem, RIIO-ED2 annual summary report 2024-25 supplementary data file (Dataset tab).

Regulator: Ofgem (Great Britain); Utility Regulator (Northern Ireland).

Where the United Kingdom's electricity came from, 2025

Share of United Kingdom electricity generation by source, 2025
Gas31.8%
Wind29.5%
Bioenergy14%
Nuclear12.2%
Solar6.9%
Other2.1%
Hydro1.8%
Storage1.3%
Oil0.6%

Source: DESNZ, DUKES 2026 Table 5.6: electricity fuel use, generation and supply

Largest power cuts in the United Kingdom

Figures are as reported by the sources cited; some count peak customers and others the total affected over the event

  1. Storm Darragh

    6 December 2024

    2,300,000 customers affected

    The Met Office reports that over 2.3 million customers lost power during the storm of 6 to 7 December 2024. Wales was among the worst hit, and Dyfed-Powys Police declared a major incident. The Energy Networks Association said on 10 December that about 23,000 customers were still waiting to be reconnected. The end date is left empty because no single official completion date was found.

    Sources: Met Office, Storm Darragh, 6 to 7 December 2024 (case study PDF); Energy Networks Association, Electricity networks work to reconnect remaining customers following Storm Darragh

  2. Storm Eunice

    18 February 2022

    1,700,000 customers affected

    The government's Storm Arwen review says over 1.7 million households had an electricity disruption of more than 3 minutes, its widest count. On 21 February 2022 the Business Secretary said over 1.4 million customers had been reconnected, more than 98% of those affected, and just under 30,000 were still off supply. SSEN called it the worst storm to hit its central southern area in over 30 years.

    Sources: DESNZ/BEIS, Energy Emergencies Executive Committee: Storm Arwen Review, final report (June 2022); GOV.UK, Statement from Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Storm Eunice (21 February 2022); SSEN, Looking back at Storm Eunice (4 March 2022)

  3. 9 August 2019 power outage

    9 August 2019

    1,150,000 customers affected

    892 MW of demand, about 4% of the national total, was automatically disconnected, affecting 1.15 million customers. Supplies were restored within 45 minutes, although 371 rail services were cancelled. The regions listed are those named in Ofgem's report; the disconnection operated across Great Britain's networks.

    Sources: Ofgem, 9 August 2019 power outage report; Ofgem, Investigation into 9 August 2019 power outage

  4. Storm Arwen

    26 November 2021

    1,000,000 customers affected

    Over one million customers lost power, and 82% were reconnected within 24 hours. About 40,000 customers were off supply for more than three days and nearly 4,000 for over a week, with all reconnected within 13 days, which gives the approximate end date here. Ofgem concluded that thousands of customers received an unacceptable service, and networks paid compensation and redress.

    Sources: Ofgem, Final report on the review into the networks' response to Storm Arwen (June 2022); DESNZ/BEIS, Energy Emergencies Executive Committee: Storm Arwen Review, final report (June 2022)

  5. Storm Eowyn

    24 January 2025

    633,000 customers affected

    The total here adds the operators' own figures, because no single official total was found: NIE Networks 285,000, SP Energy Networks over 206,000 in Scotland and over 52,000 in its Manweb area, and SSEN at least 90,000. NIE Networks said a third of all properties in Northern Ireland lost power, and it expected to finish reconnections on 3 February 2025.

    Sources: NIE Networks, Storm Eowyn update (3 February 2025); SP Energy Networks, Storm Eowyn: power restored in central and southern Scotland; SP Energy Networks, Storm Eowyn: power restored in the Manweb area

  6. South London blackout

    28 August 2003

    476,000 customers affected

    At 18:20 the fault cut supply to 476,000 customers and 724 MW of demand, about 20% of London's demand at the time, and caused major rail and Underground disruption at rush hour. National Grid restored supplies by 19:01. This is Ofgem's figure, and it is higher than the 410,000 widely quoted from National Grid's earlier report.

    Source: Ofgem/PB Power, Report on support to investigations into the recent blackouts in London and West Midlands, Volume 1 (2004)

  7. Storm Babet

    18 October 2023

    100,000 customers affected

    The Energy Networks Association put the total at around 100,000 customers across Britain. SSEN alone restored 37,000 customers after fixing over 450 network faults in three days, with more than two-thirds reconnected within 3 hours. Around 150 properties in Brechin could not be safely reconnected at that point.

    Sources: SSEN, Homes reconnected following Storm Babet (21 October 2023); Energy Networks Association, Update on Storm Babet

  8. North Hyde substation fire

    20 March 2025

    71,655 customers affected

    The fire began at 23:21 on 20 March 2025 and cut power to 71,655 domestic and commercial customers in west London, and to part of Heathrow's private network. Heathrow Airport Limited decided to close the airport at 01:11. All but two of SSEN's 66,919 directly supplied customers were back by 12:24, and the rest by 3pm. Ofgem opened an investigation into National Grid Electricity Transmission.

    Sources: NESO, North Hyde Review: final report (30 June 2025); NESO, North Hyde Review

  9. Storm Desmond: Lancaster substation flood

    5 December 2015

    61,000 customers affected

    Supplies to 61,000 properties were cut at 10.45pm on 5 December 2015, restored from 4.30am on Monday and then lost again in most areas at 4pm that day. Seventy-five large diesel generators supported restoration, and the situation was back to normal by 11 December. The Royal Academy of Engineering studied how losing power also took down phones, card payments, cash machines and lifts.

    Source: Royal Academy of Engineering, Living without electricity: one city's experience of coping with loss of power (2016)

  10. Great Storm of 1987

    15 October 1987

    The Met Office says fallen trees took down electricity and telephone lines, leaving thousands of homes without power for more than 24 hours, and that 18 people were killed. No official customer count was found. It is included because the storm reshaped UK severe weather warnings.

    Source: Met Office, The Great Storm of 1987

United Kingdom power cut FAQ

What number do I call for a power cut?

Call 105 in England, Scotland or Wales. It connects you to your local network operator. In Northern Ireland, 105 doesn't apply, so call NIE Networks on 03457 643 643.

Why doesn't my energy supplier fix power cuts?

Suppliers sell electricity and send bills. Regional network operators own the local cables and repair faults, whichever supplier you use. There are six groups across Great Britain's 14 licence areas, plus NIE Networks in Northern Ireland.

How do I check for a power cut by postcode?

Enter your postcode on your network operator's power cut map. If you aren't sure who that is, calling 105 will route you to the right operator in Great Britain. Our region pages list the operators for each area.

What was the biggest power cut in the UK?

Storm Darragh in December 2024 is the largest in our sourced list, with over 2.3 million customers losing power according to the Met Office. The largest grid failure was on 9 August 2019, which affected 1.15 million customers, with supplies restored within 45 minutes.

Is there a power cut in the United Kingdom right now?

As of 3 Nov, 16:17 GMT, the 4 network operators that publish open data reported 2,908 customers affected by unplanned power cuts across 58 incidents. This is a partial count, because not every operator shares live data. For your own address, check your network operator (DNO)'s official power cut map.

Cite this page

You may reuse our derived data under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. Live data is credited to each network operator's open-data licence below. Weather warnings are © Crown copyright, Met Office.

PowerOutageTracker.com. "UK Power Cuts: Live Count and Who to Call." Accessed 3 November 2026. https://poweroutagetracker.com/world/united-kingdom
Sources (30)