2022-02-18: Storm Dudley - OpenReach warning

Service update from our supplier Openreach

Briefing HD363905

As forecast, on Wednesday 16 February, Storm Dudley hit the UK from the Atlantic, bringing wind speeds of 60 to 70mph across many parts of the country. The Met Office announced widespread severe weather warnings and there’s been significant impact on infrastructure, including the power network and transport systems. Many areas, particularly in Scotland and Northern England have seen road closures.

The severe weather conditions have meant that our supplier Openreach has seen some damage to their network, particularly to overhead lines, and a small number of DSLAMs have been affected by the power issues. However, the impacts have so far been less severe than the recent storms Malik and Corrie.

Our suppliers workforce have been working hard to further minimise impacts and are restoring service to end customers as quickly as possible in difficult conditions. Looking ahead,  the second named storm of this week Eunice, is forecast to hit from today.

Storm Eunice could cause significant disruption and dangerous conditions for our supplier due to extremely strong winds and the potential for gusts of up to 100mph in the most exposed areas;  including damage to buildings and homes, power lines and uprooted trees.

An emergency Cobra meeting has been called today by the government and the Met Office has placed almost all of England and Wales under an amber warning from 05:00 (UK Time) 18 February 2022. A rare 'red warning' for danger to life, for what could be Britain's worst storm in 32 years, is in place which currently covers the South West.

We along with our supplier, expect to see more of an fault intake over the coming days and we’ll be working really hard to bring end customers back into service as quickly as we possibly can.

Of course, the safety of our suppliers engineers, end customers and the general public will be paramount at all times. Our supplier will be carrying out risk assessments to ensure their engineers only work when and where it is completely safe to do so. Where they are unable to complete work safely, we’re expecting to see an increase in missed appointments.

Due to the possible increased workstack we may see increased contacts in to our service centres, so please only contact if absolutely necessary

We’ll continue to monitor the conditions with the storm as it hits the UK, and we’ll keep you updated as the situation develops.

Thanks

Michael Gauterin

Director Service Operations

BTWholesale Customer Service

T: +44800 783 5639 option one

E: broadband.eco.admin@bt.com

Web: www.btwholesale.com

BT Wholesale is a world-class enabler of converged network solutions

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