Massive power outage hits several European countries and holiday islands
Large parts of Europe were hit by power cuts today, knocking out traffic lights, halting electric trains and switching off the internet.
Power operators said they were investigating what caused the blackouts in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro.
The string of blackouts rippled out of Montenegro after a 400-kilowatt transmission line exploded, the national newspaper Vijesti reported.
Sources said crews from the Montenegrin Electric Transmission System (CGES) found the pylon on fire.
Across all four countries were scenes of car-clogged roads as traffic lights went down. Some suffered internet outages, too.
In Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, cars were seen erratically crisscrossing through the intersection of M18, E60 and 4 Jul street from all directions.
Traffic jams have been reported in Montenegro (Picture: Portal Dan)
Traffic lights are slowly powering back on (Picture: PIXSELL)
People are also reportedly struggling to buy medicine from pharmacies due to the internet going down amid sweltering 40°C heat.
CGES director Ivan Asanović said: ‘The cause is not yet known and CGES, in cooperation with colleagues from the surrounding area, is working to solve the problem and ensure the energy supply of all consumers in Montenegro.’
Power failures occurred across Banja Luka, Prnjavor, Kotor Varoš, Sarajevo, Derventa, Palam, Trebinje, Gack and Nevesinje in Bosnia and Herzegovina, TV channel BN reported.
Electricity flows were interrupted a little after 12pm, with electric trains left empty as they stopped running in the capital city Sarajevo.
However, traffic lights have begun powering back on with police officers briefly stepping in to direct traffic.
Why the outages occurred is unclear, though sources have told the press it was down to an exploding pylon (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
The wave of outages happened this afternoon local time (Picture: AP)
Southern Croatia suffered a massive power outage at around 12.30pm local time, with the entirety of Dubrovnik and Konavle blacked out.
The country’s national power grid, HEP, said the outage was down to ‘an international disturbance that affected several countries’.
‘The Croatian transmission system operator is conducting an analysis with the system operators of neighbouring countries to determine the cause,’ it added.
Lights in the coastal region of Dalmatia are now slowly turning back on, state TV HRT reported. Power returned to the city of Split after engineers tried to switch the system on two times.
Officials say electricity should be restored nationwide by 3.30pm.
In Albania, blackouts were reported in the capital city of Tirana, Durrës, Elbasan, Kukës and Korçë.
Electrical grid operators across the continent are investigating the cause of the blackouts (Picture: AP)
The lights in the country’s constitutional court went off in the middle of a session, according to BalkanWeb.
Power company OSHEE announced last night that power could be switched off in Tirana.
Officials say the major outage started with a fault in an interconnecting line with Greece caused by blisteringly high temperatures.
Energy minister Belinda Balluku said: ‘It must be said that since the good work that was done in the field, we managed to recover all the electricity distribution through the lines in the country within 30 minutes, while Tirana was recovered within 17 minutes.’
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