Spain and Portugal blackout caused by ‘rare phenomenon’

Panic buying has begun.

Over 50 million people across the two countries have been affected.

Metro and train lines became suspended, traffic lights shut down, phone service is out and ATM machines all stopped working at around lunchtime today, April 28.

Portuguese grid operator REN said the power outage was due to a ‘rare atmospheric phenomenon’ that also affected the Spanish electricity grid.

Parts of France, Santarem, Lisbon, Madrid, Seville, Valencia and Barcelona have all been affected.

Outages in France have been recovered and the country is now offering emergency electricity to Spain.

Ukraine has also offered support.

Operations chief of Red Eléctrica, Eduardo Prieto, said it could take up to 10 hours to restore power, and up to a week for the countries to return to normal.

Furthermore, it seems panic buying has begun with images taken from supermarkets in the region show people emptying the shelves for basic supplies like water and food.