Over 2,000 households in Viljandi County were without power as of Sunday, as were 640 households in Jõgeva County and 570 in Tartu County.

High wind speeds were also recorded across the country on Saturday and overnight Saturday-Sunday, compounding the problem.

One line broken in several places

''The problems have been caused by heavy snowstorms, causing trees to fall, breaking electricity lines, in one case in three or four different places along the same electricity line,'' said Kalle Orro of electricity network company Elektrilevi.

''Reconnection in such cases can take four to six hours,'' he continued.

Due to the scale of the damage, some faults affecting low voltage connections, which presumably includes cables to individual dwellings, could take several days to fix, according to Mr Orro.

Step-by-step reconnection

''We've started with the highest voltage cables and are moving step by step to each individual household affected,'' he continued.

''We recognise that the power supply lack is uncomfortable to say the least, and apologise to those customers who have experienced these issues,'' Mr Orro said.

''We are doing our best to get power reconnected as soon as possible, but at this stage cannot give any optimistic messages,'' he added.

Meanwhile police have recommended that drivers who haven't fitted winter tyres yet (mandatory from 1 December) leave the car at home.

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