88,000 people plunged into darkness last night across Edinburgh and the Borders

Edinburgh residents have described how the city was plunged into a "blackout" following a power outage.

SP Energy Networks, the arm of utilities giant Scottish Power responsible for delivering electricity to homes and businesses said that engineers were working to restore the power supply and it is understood repairs were completed by 11.15pm.

The blackout prompted hundreds of social media posts with residents wondering why they had been left in the dark, including Inspector Rebus detective thriller writer Ian Rankin, who tweeted: “40-minute power cut stretching from Edinburgh to Peebles. Spent 35 of those minutes finding torch and adding fresh batteries...”.

One resident living in Fountainbridge said that even though her power was only off for half an hour, it was “the longest 30 minutes ever”, saying that it really shows “how reliant we are on technology”.

Dr Shri Gopi-Firth, wrote on Twitter: “Most exciting night of 2021 so far when we had a #powercut all over Marchmont for about an hour...nothing like the powercuts of my childhood but was fun to see all the kids on the street thinking this was the best night ever with the snow and the total dark! Who could blame them.”

Other residents in the Capital took the chance to cosy up and enjoy the technology lull last night.

Camilla Williamson, tweeted: “Didn’t even want a cup of tea tonight but the excitement of having to boil the water on the hob was too much to ignore #powercut #edinburgh”

Another Twitter user said: “I quite enjoyed that wee power cut in Edinburgh! Total darkness! Loads of candles on, and all of us snuggled on the settee with hot chocolate made in a pot on the gas cooker.”

Edinburgh resident, Vicki Walker, tweeted this picture yesterday evening saying: "My current view #powercut".

An SP Energy Networks spokesperson confirmed the extent of the huge blackout, saying last night: “Around 88,000 customers across the Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders areas were affected by a power cut for a short time this evening due to a fault on our transmission network.

" Power was restored to most customers within 20 minutes, with the remainder back on around 25 minutes later. We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused and thank everyone affected for their understanding while we worked to restore supplies.”

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