Openreach, which supplies broadband in Orkney, apologised to those who had been affected.

A spokesperson said: “Customers can still make landline calls, and whilst we’re constantly assessing customer impact, we believe up to 10,000 customers in Faroe, Shetland and Orkney islands could have disruption to their broadband services.

“We’re working on repairs as soon as we can and will update further once we can confirm our specific work and timeline. Anyone experiencing any issues should report it to their service provider for further investigation as usual.”