VAST areas of Spain and Portugal have been hit by power outages, leaving whole cities without electricity and internet.
Entire airports and metro systems screeched to a halt across the peninsula – spinning the countries into mayhem.
There was chaos at airports and other travel hubs
Traffic ground to a halt as lights stopped working
connorjoycebPassengers were stranded at train stations[/caption]
Traffic snarled up on roads across Spain and Portugal as lights and signals stopped working.
Train services came to a complete stop, leaving huge crowds stranded at stations, and air traffic has been slashed to “half capacity”.
And a major tennis tournament, the Madrid Open, had to be suspended, with Brit Jacob Fearnley’s game interrupted by a huge “bang”.
Data from Spain‘s electricity grid shows an enormous drop off in a matter of seconds.
Red Eléctrica, Spain‘s national grid operator, announced it is urgently working to restore power.
It said there had been a system failure across the entire peninsula.
The operator explained: “The causes are being analysed and all resources are being dedicated to resolving it.”
Some commentators have aired fears of a “Russian cyberattack” following past similar plots against Europe.
Portuguese Ministry of Internal Administration said it is not ruling out a cyberattack as the possible cause.
Spanish Cybersecurity Coordination Office says “too early” to determine the root of the issue.
The outages have caused mayhem for millions.
Portuguese supermarkets closed for “safety reasons”, and people became trapped in elevators at a Madrid metro stations.
Entire cities including Seville, Barcelona, and Pamplona remain affected.
Baffled residents took to social media to share news of the power outages – with parts of France also seeming to be affected.
Some reported that the whole of Madrid and Lisbon were without power and mobile coverage.
Barajas Airport in Madrid is still without power.
The Valencia metro has announced it has suspended its entire service service.
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ReutersThe Madrid open had to be suspended[/caption]
Outages have been reported across the whole of the peninsula