Spain and Portugal have been hit by massive power outages, including in their capital

On Monday, a large number of and unprecedented power outages hit most parts of Spain and Portugal. Spanish electricity distributor Red Eléctrica said it could take up to 10 hours to restore the country’s electricity, while Portugal’s grid operator said it could take a week to fully restore the power in Portugal.

The interruption hit the capitals of both countries and eliminated subway networks, telephone lines, traffic lights and ATMs.

Portuguese grid operator Ren said extreme temperature changes in Spain are a rare atmospheric phenomenon, behind a massive power outage, which can take workers a week to fully restore power. Red Eléctrica refused to speculate on the cause of the power outage. The National Cybersecurity Centre in Portugal issued a statement saying there was no sign of it being caused by a cyber attack.

Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Electrica, told reporters that this was unprecedented, calling the event “excellent but extraordinary”.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez convened an extraordinary meeting of the Spanish National Security Council and visited Red Eléctrica to follow efforts to restore grid operations. The Portuguese cabinet held an emergency meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence.

The total population of these countries exceeds 50 million. It is not clear how many affected are. Such widespread disruptions are rare on the Iberian Peninsula.

Spain’s power network operator said it is restoring power in the northern and southern peninsula, which will help to gradually restore power supply across the country.

An official told the National News Agency that the Portuguese government said the power outage appears to be due to problems outside the country.

“Obviously in Spain, this seems to be a problem with the distribution network,” said Cabinet Secretary Leitão Amaro.

Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE said that after noon local time, a massive power outage hit several parts of the country, its newsroom, Spain’s parliament in Madrid and subway stations across the country were in the dark.

The match was suspended in the Madrid Open tennis match. Three games are being played when the power is lowered.

Nearby WhatsApp chats in Barcelona and its suburban towns also reported power outages.

In Portugal, a country with 10.6 million people, disruption hit the capital, Lisbon and surrounding areas, as well as the north and south of the country.

Portuguese newspaper Expresso said Portuguese distributor E-REDES said the power outage was due to “an issue with European power systems.”

According to Expresso, the company said it was forced to cut power in specific areas to stabilize the network.

E-Redes said parts of France were also affected.

Although some apps are working, it is impossible to make calls on the mobile network.

According to Reuters, Radio Spain reported that part of Madrid was evacuating.

Unconfirmed news reports also said that the Lisbon Metro has stopped. Traffic lights in the city center stopped working.