Major storm response kicked in early

A MAJOR storm response masterplan for the region kicked into action earlier than expected, it has been revealed. Through the year Dumfries and Galloway Council had been working in partnership with Scottish Power and community resilience groups to create a joint ‘warmth and wellbeing contingency plan’. This was to ensure the region could respond effectively to major storms and power cuts, with up to 80 warm hubs on standby. And an update on the contingency plans was to be presented to councillors this month. However, those plans had to be put into practice earlier than expected when Storm Amy hit on October 3 and 4. A new report by Martin Ogilvie, the council’s resilience and community safety manager, said: “The then still draft Operation Warmth and Wellbeing Contingency Plan was activated on October 4, 2025, in response to analysis of the forecast outages and a request by SPEN (Scottish Power Energy Networks) for the council to be their operational delivery partner. “Working rapidly with pre-identified local commercial providers, the council successfully established 12 warm hubs, including announcement on social-media and the publication of a bespoke webpage with warm hub’s sites and opening times, and additional useful information and signposting. “Given the low numbers of domestic properties expected to remain off supply, SPEN and the resilience team agreed to open one warm hub per ward, 8 am to 8 pm, on Sunday should power not have been successfully restored timeously following Storm Amy’s impact period.” Councillors will next week be asked to agree the warmth and wellbeing contingency plan going forward, after proof of how successful it can be. The urgency for developing such a contingency plan intensified after Storm Eowyn devastated the region in January this year, leaving more than 300 homes in Dumfries and Galloway without power five days afterwards. The local authority has been working to improve its response in such extreme weather events. As per the agreement with SPEN, they will reimburse the council in full for all operational costs associated with warm hubs.