Operations teams have worked day and night this week to return power and water supplies to every home across Perth and Kinross after it was battered by two storms.
Storm Malik left thousands in Tayside without power on Saturday before the even stronger Storm Corrie struck eastern Scotland with gusts of 92mph the following day.
An amber wind warning had already been issued for most of Tayside ahead of the weekend with the Met Office saying the weather presented a “danger to life”.
As a result of the turbulent winds trees across the region were torn from their roots and blown onto roads, endangering drivers and causing chaos on busier routes.
In one incident on Sunday evening a collapsed tree caused major disruption on the A90 eastbound between Errol and Inchture.
Calum Rennie captured the clip on Sunday night.
In a post on Facebook, Calum warned locals: “Anyone travelling between Errol and Inchture from Perth to Dundee eastbound, a tree has fallen on the dual carriageway and currently grid lock.
He later updated: “Traffic moving slowly and no one injured.”
The tree was then cleared.
The A93 north of Blairgowrie was closed in various locations due to fallen trees on Monday morning.
ScotRail train services in Perth and Kinross also ceased services earlier on Sunday evening as a safety precaution against Storm Corrie.
Domestic rail services wound down between 6pm and midnight, with a limited number of cross-border and freight services able to run on some lines, but at reduced speed.
The strength of the winds was expected to “damage infrastructure, blowing debris and trees onto tracks and damaging equipment such as overhead electric power lines and signals”.
Network Rail deployed additional engineers out across the network ready to react to problems and check all affected lines for damage before reintroducing services.
Meanwhile the aftermath also saw hundreds in the region go without power.
Residents in the Glenshee area suffering a blackout were, however, able to get a hot meal from a food van provided by SSEN on Monday night.
The truck was set up at Glenshee Parish Church between 5-5.30pm and provided an evening meal and breakfast on Tuesday.
Around 100 homes in Glenshee remained without power on Monday night.
Perth-based Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said it is making “every effort” to respond to the significant damage from the storms.
In its latest update yesterday afternoon, SSEN has restored power to over 120,000 homes across the north of Scotland, including all faults reported as a consequence of Storm Malik, with around 50 properties remaining off supply across the low voltage network in Aberdeenshire, related to Storm Corrie.
The majority of these properties are located in rural Aberdeenshire, with most issues in Perth and Kinross resolved.
SSEN has worked closely with Local Resilience Partnerships to help coordinate community response and provide support to customers affected.
Over 500 additional operational team-members, from other areas of SSEN and partners across the UK and Ireland, are assisting restoration efforts.
Engineers and overhead line teams will continue to respond to all known faults and restore power to all remaining homes imminently.
Customers unable to access welfare facilities and who remain off supply may claim back the cost of meals up to £15 per person.
For customers without power who need support and are unable to make alternative arrangements to stay with family or a friend, SSEN will reimburse reasonable costs for alternative accommodation.
SSEN continues to urge customers not to approach any damage to its equipment and instead, report it to SSEN by calling 105 or via its Power Track App and engineers will investigate as soon as possible.
Director of distribution system operations at SSEN Richard Gough said: “I would like to thank customers for their continued patience and reassure them that every effort is being made to restore their power as quickly and safely as possible.
“We continue to work closely with local resilience partnerships in Aberdeenshire to support the welfare effort for customers who remain off supply.
“Conditions have been extremely challenging for our teams, but we are continuing to work throughout today to safely connect the final few homes.
“I would also like to recognise the effort and dedication of SSEN teams and engineers from Distribution Network Operators from across the UK and Ireland who continue to work hard in difficult conditions to restore power safely to communities across the North of Scotland.”
Scottish Water said earlier this week that it is gradually “returning to normal operation” following the restoration of water supplies that were affected by the impact of Storms Malik and Corrie.
A fleet of 17 road tankers had been operating around the clock in recent days to maintain supplies to customers and support the recovery of water networks which had been disrupted following the loss of mains power to multiple Scottish Water sites, with the greatest impacts in localised areas of the rural north-east and Tayside.
At the peak of the publicly-owned water company’s response, 70 generators were in use to provide temporary power to sites that provide drinking water for over one million customers. Scottish Water has liaised with SSEN to restore power to a small number of rural pumping stations.
