"While it’s understandable that more rural and remote areas face greater challenges in maintaining a consistent supply, it’s worth being aware of how your region performs, particularly if you’re buying a home"
- Adam Day - eXp UK
New research from eXp UK has identified which regions of Britain are most likely to experience the coldest and darkest winters due to power cut disruptions. The firm’s analysis of Ofgem data on electricity distribution reveals that outages are most frequent in Scotland and northern England.
The study examined both the frequency of power interruptions, known as customer interruptions (CI), and the duration of outages, or customer minutes lost (CML), across each electricity distribution network area.
In terms of CI, the North of Scotland experiences the highest number of annual disruptions, with 59.69 interruptions per 100 connected customers. Yorkshire follows closely at 59.32, with South Eastern England at 54.55, the South West at 49.49, and the North East at 46.92. Other regions with above-average disruptions include the West Midlands (46.38), Central Southern England (45.56), South Wales (43.95), Eastern England (42.77), and Central and Southern Scotland (36.29).
Areas with the most reliable supply are Merseyside, Cheshire, and North Wales, which recorded just 30.29 interruptions per 100 customers, followed by the North West (26.58) and London (11.65).
While all regions performed better than Ofgem’s official targets, the analysis highlights a clear divide between rural and urban areas in terms of power reliability.
When examining CML, the North of Scotland again ranks as the hardest hit, with homes losing an average of 59.24 minutes of supply, exceeding target durations. Yorkshire also experienced longer outages at 52.12 minutes, as did Central Southern England (49.30 minutes).
In contrast, the North East, South West, and South East performed close to target, recording 44.01, 39.34, and 38.82 minutes respectively. Regions including the East Midlands (21.90 minutes), Central and Southern Scotland (25.43 minutes), and London (12.19 minutes) restored power well within target times, demonstrating strong network resilience.
“Electricity is not only vital for our homes, but many now have heating systems that rely entirely on electric power," comments Adam Day, head of eXp UK and Europe. "This means that power cuts can make for a long, dark and cold winter for many households. While it’s understandable that more rural and remote areas face greater challenges in maintaining a consistent supply, it’s worth being aware of how your region performs, particularly if you’re buying a home. For buyers, this kind of insight can be invaluable when weighing up quality of life factors that go beyond just price and postcode.”
