To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update regarding its response to storm Amy. (S6T-02709)

The Met Office issued two amber weather warnings—including a high-impact warning—for storm Amy, which caused power outage to more than 117,500 customers and issues across the transport network. The Scottish Government resilience room was activated at 3 pm on Friday and it worked in partnership with the front-line agencies that led on the response and recovery from storm Amy’s impacts and that provided support to all those who were affected.

More than 107,600 customers had been reconnected by Monday morning, with more than 115,700 reconnected by today. Engineers are working hard to reconnect the approximately 1,800 customers who are without power, and it is expected that the vast Majority of customers’ power will be restored by Wednesday evening. Communities continue to be supported with a range of welfare vans and food facilities. I thank everyone who has played and continues to play their part in getting services back up and running and supporting their local communities.

At a time of ever-changing weather patterns, which can bring more storms to Scotland, what can the Scottish Government do to provide more information to folk so that they can be more resilient and ready for extreme weather events?

Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather, and it is vital that people across Scotland are supported to act both to stay safe during incidents and to build long-term resilience. The ready.scot website and social media channels offer practical advice on preparing for impacts such as travel disruption, power loss and isolation. Those resources are continuously revised to reach a wider audience, and we will work with partners across all sectors to amplify their reach.

There is also the Adaptation Scotland programme, which provides free advice for communities, households and small businesses. I encourage people who are most at risk from climate change to view the new resources on the adaptation.scot website, which can help them to plan ahead and take early action.

Together, those efforts are supporting a step change in climate resilience across Scotland.

Many services are involved in welfare checks, the provision of food and reconnecting services, often in continuing bad weather. Will the Cabinet secretary join me in expressing our gratitude not only to those who are going above and beyond in our recognised services but to our unsung heroes who are volunteering in our local communities?

On behalf of the Scottish Government, I extend heartfelt thanks to all local authorities, emergency services, volunteers and utility providers who have worked tirelessly to support individuals, communities and households during storm Amy. Their swift action, compassion and resilience made a profound difference, helping communities to return to normal as quickly as possible and supporting people in communities who needed it most—from restoring power in very challenging conditions to checking on vulnerable residents and ensuring public safety. The Scottish Government and, I am sure, everybody in Parliament, is grateful for their hard work, professionalism and community spirit.

Three days after storm Amy, nearly 2,000 properties remain disconnected, many of them in the Great Glen, the Fort William area and the Ardnamurchan peninsula in my region. Other homes across the region were impacted, and many will have been left relying on direct-emission secondary heating systems, such as wood stoves.

Having blocked my amendments to the Housing (Scotland) Bill last week, will the Scottish Government finally recognise the vital role that wood stoves play in remote, rural and island communities, in building the long-term resilience that the Cabinet secretary talked about and in keeping families warm during power outages, especially given that the SNP’s Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, Jim Fairlie, is clearly an advocate for them?

Mr Halcro Johnston is right to point out that the Ardnamurchan peninsula is the largest area where customers are still off supply, and that other people, scattered around the country, are also affected. It is extremely difficult and quite punitive to be facing a multiday power outage. That is why Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks is continuing to work throughout today and tomorrow. It has 30 engineers working to fix those faults and will do so as quickly as possible.

I assure Mr Halcro Johnston that the issue of long-term resilience is a cross-Government endeavour. My understanding is that, although his specific Amendment was not supported by the Government in the Housing (Scotland) Bill, action in and around wood stoves has been taken elsewhere.

Storm Amy saw communications go down in Shetland for the second time in three months. There have been power cuts and telecommunications issues at Sumburgh airport, which cancelled all commercial flights on Sunday and Monday morning, and broadband provision for many dropped completely after a fault occurred on the Shetland-Faroes cable—SHEFA-2—between Orkney and Shetland. As yet, there is no confirmed estimated time for repair of the cable.

What engagement has the Scottish Government had with communications providers and NATS about this significant disruption, and how will it work with them to improve island resilience?

Ms Wishart is quite correct to raise the importance of island resilience. Our island communities, by their very nature, are often more resilient than households, such as mine, that reside in the central belt. Nonetheless, given the geographical isolation of our island communities, we all need to work harder across Scotland to ensure that that resilience response is spread out.

I am certainly aware of the difficulties that have been experienced in Beatrice Wishart’s Constituency over the weekend and I reassure her that, whether it is ministers or SGoRR officials, we are reaching out to every local resilience partnership on an entire range of issues. I will get a further update to her on the important matter of telecommunications in her constituency.

On Sunday, I contacted SSEN on behalf of constituents who had lost power. I thank SSEN for its exemplary and swift response in restoring power and the work that hundreds of operatives have done.

In a conference call yesterday with SSEN senior executives, they explained that the use of drones enables them to check out where the faults lie much more quickly now than in the old days of manual checking. Will the Cabinet secretary explore with the resilience team how to work with SSEN and Scottish Power on the best use of drones to further speed up the process of reconnection? Does the cabinet secretary agree that drones, at least airborne ones, are quite useful?

Yes, indeed—Mr Ewing makes a constructive point about the use of technology, which can get a quicker and better result for those whom we seek to serve and can be safer for front-line staff. I will pursue the point that he raises.