POWER chiefs have issued a "red alert" for central southern England as the area braces itself for the impact of Storm Eunice on Friday.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) has sounded the alert amid fears that gale force winds could cause widespread disruption to electricity supplies across the region.

Storm Eunice is due to arrive around 9am, with wind speeds expected to build throughout the morning.

At the peak of the storm in early afternoon, gusts are forecast to exceed 70mph in inland areas and up to 80mph in coastal locations.

A SSEN spokesperson said: "In advance of this severe weather, we have enacted our well-established resilience plans.

"We are both increasing and moving additional resources to key locations in anticipation of any potential damage, including teams from our contract partners.

"We are also in contact with local resilience partners to aid preparations and co-ordinate any welfare requirements.

"To support customers who may need extra help, we have sent ‘warn and inform’ texts to over 300,000 of our Priority Service Register customers in central southern England.

"SSEN will continue to monitor weather forecasts and provide updates if the situation changes.

"If you see any damaged equipment, please keep a safe distance and report it to us by calling 105 or via our Power Track App, and engineers will investigate as soon as possible."

Richard Gough is director of distribution system operations at SSEN.

He said: "We have been monitoring Storm Eunice for a number of days, including tracking the predicted path and intensity of the storm as it reaches landfall.

"Although it is forecast to be relatively short in duration, the wind gusts associated with the weather front are significant and widespread disruption to power supplies is likely across our operating region.

"We’d like to reassure our customers that we are making every preparation for the arrival of this significant weather front and we have allocated teams of engineers to locations expected to experience the worst of the weather conditions, to ensure we are ready to respond as soon as it’s safe to do so.

“Customers on our Priority Services Register are being contacted proactively.

"But I would encourage anyone with serious health concerns about potential disruption to power supplies to give our dedicated teams a call on 105, where additional support and guidance can be given to help you prepare.”

Customers are being encouraged to be prepared for the possibility of disruption to supplies by:

Saving the emergency power cut number – 105 – to their phone to report power cuts or damage to the electricity network.

Downloading SSEN’s Power Track app which provides details of power cuts and restoration times. Customers can also report power cuts and network damage through the Power Track app.

Going to SSEN’s website where there is a wealth of advice and information on how to deal with a power cut, or to chat live to one of SSEN’s advisors via its Webchat service.

Following SSEN on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates.