Jersey Electricity has dispatched a team to Northern Ireland to help the 650,000 households who lost power due to Storm Éowyn.

While we felt the edge of the storm last week in the Channel Islands with gusts to 60 mph, in Northern Ireland things were a lot worse - with winds reaching more than 90 mph and leaving around 30% of homes and businesses without electricity. 

Since then, clean-up efforts have been underway, bringing trees off the roads and repairing damage to properties. 

Local engineers, now supported by a team from Jersey, have also been trying to restore power to the thousands of homes affected.

Jersey Electricity employees arrived in the country on Saturday, with re-enforcements touching down on Monday.

The engineering team has been focused on repairing overhead powerlines to households without power. 

Jersey Electricity contributing to relief efforts

Gavin Glaser, Service Delivery Resource Manager at Jersey Electricity, is leading the team on their mission off-island.

He tells Channel 103 that being there to help is all about giving back:

"We had Storm Ciarán in November 2023, and we had some help from UK companies who came to help us with the repair effort, so we're definitely returning the favour on that.

"We, I believe, are the furthest travelled. But we do have some (engineers) here from National Grid, Scottish Southern Electricity have also sent some crews and a lot of tree cutting contractors are around. They are just as needed as us overhead linesmen."

Jersey Electricity crews in Northern Ireland

Chris Ambler, Chief Executive of Jersey Electricity, says he's really proud of his team:

"Our thoughts are with all those affected by Storm Éowyn. While Jersey Electricity is a relatively small organisation in our sector, we believe that every contribution counts in times of crisis.

"It’s a privilege to be able to give back and support our sector colleagues and communities in the UK, particularly after the invaluable help we received during Storm Ciarán.

"I want to thank our team for their commitment and wish them a safe and successful mission in Northern Ireland."