Shetland’s phones, internet, and computers have been entirely cut off, resulting in a total blackout.
After the south subsea connection between the islands and the mainland was severed, police declared a major emergency and began patrolling to reassure people.
Northern Police tweeted: “Engineers are working to restore Shetland’s connection to the main line following a complete outage.”
“Telephones, the internet, and computers are inoperable.”
Officers will continue to patrol the area, and we will provide an update as soon as we get any information.
Another cable between Shetland and Faroe is undergoing repairs after being broken last week.
Due to a break in a third-party subsea cable connecting Shetland to the Scottish mainland, some phone, broadband, and mobile services are interrupted, according to a BT Group spokeswoman.
Engineers are attempting to reroute services via alternate routes as soon as feasible; we’ll offer updates as they become available. Our external subsea provider is likewise working to restore their connection as soon as possible.
‘Anyone who has to dial 999 should use either their landline or their mobile phone, even if they have no signal from their mobile carrier. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Police Scotland is currently in discussion with partners such as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and HM Coastguard to provide the island with enhanced emergency support.
In the interim, police personnel will be more visible on the island, according to Ch Insp Jane Mackenzie’s comments on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland.
She stated, ‘We are currently attempting to determine the entire scope of the problem; we know some telephone lines are operational, 999 lines are believed to be operational, and certain mobile networks are still operational.
Therefore, everyone should be able to dial 999 from a mobile phone. In the event of an emergency, please dial 999 from a landline or a mobile phone first.
“If that doesn’t work, you should either flag down an emergency service vehicle that isn’t utilizing its blue light or report the situation at a police station, hospital, fire station, or ambulance station.”
Ch Insp Mackenzie asked the public not to utilize phone lines for non-emergency calls and to do more frequent checks on elderly or vulnerable individuals whose help bells may not be functioning properly.
The damaged cable between Faroe and Shetland will be fixed on Saturday, according to Páll Vesturb, head of infrastructure for Faroese Telecom.
He stated, “The damage is affecting the majority of Shetland’s telecom services.” Some services are still operational, but we will attempt to establish additional services during the day if possible.
We anticipate that fishing vessels caused the cable damage, but it is quite rare for us to experience two incidents at once.