![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249226420-f71e.jpg\")
\n\t\tPeople walk in a building during a power outage, in Madrid, Spain (Picture: Reuters)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tPeople walk in a building during a power outage, in Madrid, Spain (Picture: Reuters)<\/p>\n
Trains. ATMs. Airports. Mobile phone<\/a> signal. The internet. Hospitals. Banks. Schools. Toilets. Air-conditioning units. <\/p>\n Today, all of the above \u2013 and more \u2013 went dark across Spain and Portugal after both nations were hit by a major power outage<\/a>. <\/p>\n The cause of the blackout, which happened just before midday, is not immediately clear. Portugal<\/a>\u2019s grid operator, however, has said it was down to a \u2018rare atmospheric phenomenon\u2019 that knocked Spain\u2019s power grid<\/a>. <\/p>\n Getting the systems online may take several hours, making it likely that the two European countries will be plunged into darkness once the sun sets.<\/p>\n But could this ever happen in the UK? And, if it did, what would happen?<\/p>\n \t\t Chris Owens is the marketing manager for Riello UPS, which manufactures power supplies and other standby power solutions.<\/p>\n In 2019, the company created the Blackout Report<\/a>, examining the odds of the UK going dark and the consequences of this happening. <\/p>\n \u2018When you look at the events in Portugal and Spain and wonder \u201ccould that happen here in the UK?\u201d, it\u2019s still highly unlikely,\u2019 explains Owens. <\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s never been a complete failure of the UK\u2019s electricity network, our power grid is reliable and robust.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018But we looked into the issue a few years ago for our Blackout report project, and official government risk assessments stated there was around a one-in-200 chance of a grid shutdown within five years. <\/p>\n \u2018So while it\u2019s not likely to happen, the odds are considerably shorter than winning the lottery, for example.\u2019<\/p>\n Owens stresses, however, that this isn\u2019t to say it can\u2019t happen; there\u2019s still a roughly 0.5% chance of Britain going dark. <\/p>\n What could cause a UK-wide power outage?<\/p>\n \t\t A fair few things, Owens says. In 1987, a weather event simply known as the \u2018Great Storm\u2019 brought hurricane-force winds to parts of Britain, battering homes with 120mph gusts of wind. <\/p>\n Thousands of homes were left without power as ripped trees took down electricity poles, making it among the biggest blackouts in British history, according to the Blackout Report. <\/p>\n Extreme weather events like storms and the resulting floods can impact electricity supplies. \u2018As recently as August 9, 2019, 1million people around London lost power after a lightning strike took a couple of power plants offline,\u2019 says Owens. <\/p>\n What happens hundreds of thousands of miles away from the Earth can also threaten whether we can switch our living room lights on. <\/p>\n Solar flares \u2013 eruptions of energetic particles from the Sun \u2013 can crash into the Earth and cause geomagnetic storms. This is because this solar goo mingles with the Earth\u2019s invisible force field, the magnetic field. <\/p>\n \t\t While these storms can create the Northern Lights<\/a>, they can also interfere with power, navigation and communication systems<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Owens notes, sometimes power failures happen when the infrastructure that gets electricity to homes is damaged, like the fire at a substation near Heathrow Airport <\/a>last month.<\/p>\n Cyber crooks could also cause power outages. In 2015, one in five residents of Kyiv, Ukraine<\/a>, suffered from a blackout caused by a Russian cyber attack. <\/p>\n Hackers infected three energy distribution companies\u00a0with sketchy software, called malware, that switched substations and emergency power stations off. <\/p>\n How could the UK be affected by a nationwide power outage<\/strong>?<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Within hours, society would start to grind to a halt, and the most vulnerable would be at real risk.\u2019<\/p>\n This is the rather sobering answer to this question from Iain Staffell<\/a>, reader in Sustainable Energy at Imperial College London.<\/p>\n Like in Spain and Portugal, a sweeping blackout that cuts electricity to the UK would upend countless lives and vital services. <\/p>\n \u2018A nationwide blackout does not just cause chaos, it is life-threatening,\u2019 Staffell, who writes <\/a>on Britain\u2019s power grid for the power generation business Drax\u2019s Electric Insights project, tells Metro<\/strong>. <\/p>\n \u2018Electricity underpins everything we rely on: clean water, heating, the mobile phone networks, banking, refrigerated food and medicines.<\/p>\n Owens adds that the effects of a disruption at that scale would be felt by millions of people almost immediately. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\tHow to prepare for a power outage\t\t\t<\/p>\n Given that the internet and mobile services, as well as other forms of media, like TV, could all go down after a blackout, it\u2019s good to be prepared. <\/p>\n The government recommends Britons: <\/p>\n \u2018Mobile phone coverage would probably go within a couple of hours, electronic payment systems like card readers will stop working, traffic lights will go out,\u2019 he says. <\/p>\n Even a lot of gas-fired heating and cooking systems in people\u2019s homes will stop as they rely on electrical pumps or control systems to work properly.\u2019<\/p>\n Resorting power is no easy feat, however. After all, with a total blackout, there\u2019s no electricity to restart the system.<\/p>\n Power grid operators and energy officials would effectively need to reboot the grid from scratch in a process called \u2018black start\u2019, says Owens. <\/p>\n Only a few power stations can carry out a black start, most are old, coal-fired plants that could slowly produce enough power to restart the network. <\/p>\n \t\t National Grid, which owns the high-voltage electricity grid in England and Wales, says this could be used to restore 60% of regional\u00a0demand\u00a0within 24 hours or so. <\/p>\n \u2018This could take five to seven days for power to be completely restored, although the majority of customers would probably be restored within 24 hours,\u2019 adds Owens. <\/p>\n Power outages can also impact the local water supply to people\u2019s homes. Like electricity, getting water to people\u2019s homes involves a network of treatment plants, pumping stations and distribution systems that all require electricity. <\/p>\n If you\u2019re at all worried about the power cut in Spain and Portugal spilling out into the UK, don\u2019t be, stressed the National Energy System Operator, or NESO. <\/p>\n \t\t \u2018Great Britain\u2019s electricity network was not affected by the power system incident on the European electricity network earlier today,\u2019 the body, which oversees British electricity and gas networks, tells Metro<\/strong>. <\/p>\n We are working closely with our counterparts across Europe to understand the cause of today\u2019s power system incident and to offer our support. It is too early to comment further on today\u2019s events and whilst investigations are still ongoing.\u2019<\/p>\n Energy officials \u2013 and both experts Metro spoke with \u2013 have long stressed that Britain has among the most \u2018resislent\u2019 energy grids in the world. <\/p>\n But power cuts can do more than just turn out the lights.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ve never been as reliant on the internet and interconnectivity,\u2019 Owens adds, \u2018but without electricity to power this digital world, our whole way of life quickly falls apart.\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"Employees](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249212772-efa7.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe power cut is affecting the entire Iberian Peninsula and the south of France (Picture: AFP)
\nCould a national blackout ever happen in Britain?<\/p>\n![\"Aerial](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249222833-1d62.jpg\")
\n\t\tExperts stressed to Metro that Britain\u2019s energy system is among the most \u2018resilient\u2019 in the world (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Passengers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249211861-fa72.jpg\")
\n\t\tA train that stopped near Cordoba, Spain, after the power went down (Picture: AFP)<\/p>\n![\"LISBON,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249205414-9e12.jpg\")
\n\t\tMany major insitiations, such as hospitals, are running on gernators while train systems have gone quiet (Picture: Anadolu)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249202835-b642.jpg\")
\n\t\tThere are many reasons why a widespread power cut could happen (Picture: AFP)<\/p>\n\n
![\"epa12060262](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249198195-867b.jpg\")
\n\t\tPower cuts can do more than just turn out the lights (Picture: EPA)<\/p>\n![\"Passengers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_249223729-0902.jpg\")
\n\t\tPassengers queue inside Madrid airport (Picture: AP)<\/p>\n
\nMORE: Tennis star \u2018stuck in lift\u2019 during Madrid Open power outage with play cancelled<\/a><\/p>\n
\nMORE: Your rights if Spain and Portugal\u2019s power outage has affected your flight<\/a><\/p>\n