2015 began with some severe storms, with phone and broadband services to thousands of homes and businesses disrupted, as well as power supplies, amid prolonged freezing temperatures, lightning strikes and high winds gusting up to 113mph across Scotland.
Although the Scottish Highlands and islands bore the brunt of the damage, very few parts of Scotland were unscathed after the series of storms – described by one of BT’s long-serving engineers as the worst he has seen in nearly 50 years with the company.