Edinburgh power cut: Princes Street shops plunged into darkness and traffic lights down due to power cut

Several business on Edinburgh’s Princes Street were left without power for several hours after an outage occurred on Thursday.

It was also reported on social media that traffic lights at the junction between Princes Street and The Mound were affected by the power cut, which is believed to have last from just before midday to around 2.30pm.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), one user wrote: “Power cut on Princes Street, #Edinburgh. Going on 25 minutes of no power in stores and on the junction outside the National Gallery.”

Several business on Edinburgh’s Princes Street have been left without power after an outage occurred on Thursday. Photo: Google Street View

Speaking to the Evening News, Lisa Mary Crone, who works at the Scribbler store, said at the time of the outage: “The power cut just before I was due to start work around 11:45 and it's still off now over two and a half hours later. The issue affects most of the stores between Burger King and the branch of Black Sheep across from Waverley Mall, as well as most the lower half of Hanover Street.

“Two sets of lights are out including the busy junction by the National Gallery, leaving both cars and pedestrians to fend for themselves. Through word of mouth from various other closed stores we know that it's unlikely the power will be on before three and the cause, as far as we know, is still unknown.

“There is finally sign of life from SP Energy in the form of a single van and two men on the mound but they have since moved on I imagine to try find and fix fault elsewhere.”