Extreme weather tips
Extreme weather can bring lots of problems, so use these tips to help you prepare.
Please note that any extreme weather will mean disruption to our services and routine appointments will potentially have to be delayed so that we can prioritise emergencies. Thank you for your patience.
Preparing for cold and icy conditions
Our winter-ready page has lots of information on how to prepare your home for very cold weather. It also tells you about the support available from us and others if you're struggling to pay the bills and stay warm - please do get in touch if you need more advice or help.
Our maintenance guides explain what to do if your electric goes off, advice on getting to know your heating system (including bleeding a radiator and getting the best out of storage heaters and dealing with boiler problems) and hot water system (including stopcocks, avoiding frozen pipes - and what to do if they are frozen).
If your boiler stops working in icy weather, one of the most common causes is a frozen condensate pipe. This pipe is usually made of white plastic and runs from the boiler through the wall to an outside drain. It’s quick and easy to defrost yourself 
and get your boiler back up and running.
Gritting
If you live in one of our supported housing schemes for disabled or older people, we'll grit your communal main access areas in icy conditions. Contact us if there’s an additional area at one of these schemes which you think should be gritted, and we'll look into this.
We’re not responsible for public footpaths and roads though, so you’ll need to contact your local authority to ask about gritting in these areas.
Flooding advice
If you live in an area of potential flooding, there are things you can do to be prepared.
- Sign up to receive free flood warnings by phone, text or email
- Check for flood alerts and warnings on the Gov.uk website and for more advice about flooding
- Contact your local authority who may be able to provide you with sandbags (if not, SNG may be able to assist)
- If you have been issued with flood door guards, remember to instal these
- Don't forget to make sure you have home contents insurance
If your home is actually flooding, please contact the emergency services. SNG can also support you, so do report this to us as well on 0300 5000 926.
High winds
- Sign up to receive Met Office weather warnings by email
- If high winds are forecast, secure or store away garden furniture, trampolines and similar items
- Close windows to stop them getting damaged
- Be aware of the risk of falling roof tiles and trees - stay indoors if you can
- If we are doing any work to your home which involves scaffolding, we will inspect this before and after any high wind is forecast
- Please report any fallen trees, roof tiles and scaffolding damage
- Unless fencing is causing a risk (such as lying in a highway), please report this in office hours.