ScottishPower said that it had offered the accommodation to families and individuals after being unable to reconnect their power in time for the holiday.

Gales of more than 100mph battered Scotland and parts of the UK over the Christmas break, causing widespread damage.

At one point, engineers at the Hunterston B nuclear power station in Ayrshire performed an emergency shut down after the winds destroyed power lines operating reactor cooling systems.

Battered: Glasgow's St Stephen's church badly damaged

Among the worst hit areas are remote villages in Dumfries and Galloway and South Ayrshire. Many have been told that they will not be reconnected until the New Year.

A ScottishPower spokesman said: "We have 600 separate incidents of damage with teams of about 20 working on some of the individual faults. In some areas, we have to effectively rebuild the system.

"We have offered to put people up in hotels and have come to an arrangement with Dumfries and Galloway Council to give financial assistance to people who cannot afford to pay up front for a hotel."

Critics have accused ScottishPower of incompetence in the wake of the storms.

One MP called for the company's chief executive to resign for failing to properly protect electricity supplies.

But the company has hit back, saying that no electricity system can withstand sustained winds of up to 110mph.

Throughout the UK, 250,000 homes lost electricity in the Christmas storms and five people died in accidents.

The UK's Met Office says there are no severe weather warnings for New Year's Eve.