Power cuts hit Spain, Portugal and other countries across Europe. What caused the blackouts?

A huge power outage hit Spain, Portugal and parts of France on Monday morning, with trains, traffic lights and mobile signal all affected.

Around 12:30 in the middle of the day, the electric network across the countries failed, causing chaos across hundreds of areas.

Lights went out in office blocks, phone signal was blocked and traffic lights stopped as people scrambled to find out what caused the issue. People were forced off underground trains as emergency protocols kicked in and at the time of writing, there have already been a number of rescue missions for people stuck in elevators.

Why has there been a power outage in Europe?

Work commenced immediately as private electric companies and the governments moved to work out what happened. At the time of writing, nothing has been solved and many cities and villages are without power.

Spain’s national news outlet, RTVE, reported that technicians claim the restoration of power “could take a long time”.

It’s unclear just how much the outage has affected things such as hospitals, airports and traffic controls.

During the afternoon, President Pedro Sánchez of Spain spoke to the media. After brief introductions, Sánchez said the cause was a “strong oscillation” and that protocols had been activated. He said technicians were working on “causes and solutions”, which he called “the main goal”.

“We don’t have conclusive evidence about how it occurred, but it’s best not to speculate and to follow official channels.”

“There are no security problems, our hospitals are working effectively and help is being given to those with special needs. Air traffic has not been affected but it will be reduced by 20% for safety reasons. Trains are affected and have stopped, we are working to restore these services.”

“Banks have been affected but some payments systems are still online, the most important thing is to follow the recommendations.”

“We should reduce travel and follow only official information, not doubtful sources like has happened before.”

“We are going through critical hours, we should only make brief phone calls and use the emergency number only in emergencies. The government are working on this and that’s the priority, to return to normality."

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