West London residents face no electricity for most of the morning after a huge power cut.

More than 200 areas are known to be affected by two faults, which were both first reported at around 6.20am on Wednesday (October 17).

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks claim the power should be restored by 9.30am as their engineers are already on site.

Writing on their website, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said: "We apologise for the loss of supply. We currently have a fault affecting the areas listed.

"Our engineers are on site working to get the power back on as quickly as they can.

"If you need more information, please call us on 0800 072 7282 and quote reference 'EU7724'."

The faults were first reported at 6.19am and 6.22am and in total affect 223 areas.

Follow our liveblog below for more updates on this story.

SSEN confirms power restored after 'underground cable fault'

Power was restored to all west London residents by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks at 8.37am, just under an hour ahead of schedule.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks logo
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks logo (Image: SSEN)

A SSEN spokeswoman said: “Power was restored to all properties affected by this power cut at 8.37am this morning.

“This has been identified as an underground cable fault.”

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Power returns to some residents just in time for birthday celebration

Power has been returning in stages to west London residents from as early as 7.55am.

Acton resident Jen Rock said her electricity had come “back on just in time for my birthday morning cuppa”.

She said: “My husband came in singing “Happy Birthday” and by the way we have a power cut!

“Took a moment to register I couldn’t put the kettle on but five minutes later it was back on. Love my morning tea!”

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SSEN confirms powercut affecting more than 2,000 properties

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks have confirmed the powercut in west London is currently affecting 2,344 properties in Chiswick, Ealing, Hammersmith, South Acton and surrounding areas of west London.

A SSEN spokeswoman said: “We’d like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused this morning and reassure them we are doing everything we can to safely restore their power as quickly as possible.”

The network will be redirected, restoring power to customers in stages.

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Image from the powercut this morning

Instagram user Tim Cunningham documented having breakfast by candlelight with his son this morning.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpBf1xrBxk1/?utm_source=ig_twitter_share&igshid=12f0ghdztm201

He added the hashtag #nappychangingwasachallenge.

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SSEN say they are "so sorry" for fault and engineers are "en route"

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks apologised in a tweet, saying they are “so sorry” for the cut affecting Ealing, Acton, Hanwell, Chiswick and Hammersmith.

In contrast to what was written on their website, this tweet claims engineers are still “en route” but reassures residents the issue will be fixed by 9.30am.

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Tweets from SSEN show Ealing and Acton hit by power cuts TWICE in the last month

Tweets from the official Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks account show this isn’t the first time in recent weeks west London has experienced a power cut.

Ealing, Acton and Hanwell experienced a cut on September 14 and Ealing and Acton experienced yet another on September 27, just 13 days later.

In both instances, the company said only that there was a “main network fault”.

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How likely is it to be fixed by 9.30am?

Writing on their website SSEN said they “always aim to provide an accurate timescale” of when power will be restored.

They added: “There are a number of factors we consider when setting and estimated time of restoration.

“This includes the type of network fault, the location of the fault, current weather conditions, access restrictions, resource availability and the history of faults in that area.

SSEN hopes to have the electricity back up and running by 9.30am
SSEN hopes to have the electricity back up and running by 9.30am (Image: Fiona Hanson/PA Wire)

“We will constantly monitor every single fault and update our restoration times as soon as we know it may be restored sooner or later.”

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Advice about safety alarms in a power cut

Many alarm systems have a “battery back-up” in order to prevent entry codes and other information being lost in a power cut.

On their website, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said residents may want to make “alternative security arrangements” as all electronic locking systems will automatically switched to unlocked if electricity goes down for “safety reasons”.

SSEN said: “It’s best to contact the installer or maintenance company for more specific details about how your own alarm may be affected during a power cut.

“When electricity is restored, it is best to double check that all the equipment has returned to it’s previous locking state.”

They added: “Most fire alarms will switch to battery back-up mode automatically in the event of a power cut. Make sure you test your fire alarm regularly.”

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Huge disruption on the rail network

Commuters face complete misery this morning thanks to the power cut, with NO trains running to and from Paddington Station, including the Heathrow Express.

Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express

You can read the full story here.

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List of postcodes affected by the second fault

These 105 postcodes are affected by the second fault, first reported at 6.22am, and residents in these areas can call 0800 072 7282 and quote reference ‘EU7724’ for more information.

The list of 105 known postcodes affected by the second fault, first reported at 6.22am
The list of 105 known postcodes affected by the second fault, first reported at 6.22am

Both faults are expected to be resolved by 9.30am.

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List of the postcodes affected by the first fault

These 118 postcodes are affected by the first fault, first reported at 6.19am, and residents in these areas can call 0800 072 7282 and quote reference ‘EU7725’ for more information.

A list of the 118 postcodes affected by the first fault, reported at 6.19am
A list of the 118 postcodes affected by the first fault, reported at 6.19am

Both faults are expected to be resolved by 9.30am.

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