‘Rare atmospheric phenomenon’ causes massive power outage in Europe —and it could even happen in the US
Millions in Spain and Portugal have been left without electricity after widespread power cuts blamed on a “rare atmospheric phenomenon,” with officials warning that it may take up to a week for things to get back to normal.
There is “no indication” that a cyber attack is behind Monday’s large-scale power cuts, Portugal’s Prime Minister Luis Montenegro told reporters on Monday.
The cause of the power cut is still unknown, but it is clear that it “did not originate in Portugal,” Montenegro said.
A “rare atmospheric phenomenon” was blamed for the outages, which affected millions, Portugal’s grid operator, Rede Eletrica Nacional (REN), said in a statement.
“Due to extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain, there were anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines, a phenomenon known as ‘induced atmospheric vibration,'” the statement continued.
“These oscillations caused synchronization failures between the electrical systems, leading to successive disturbances across the interconnected European network.”
Authorities in Spain have not yet responded to claims from REN that the issues originated in their country.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the cause of the power cut is still unknown but said nothing can be ruled out at this point, as he addressed a news conference on Monday.
“Due to the complexity of the phenomenon and the need to rebalance electricity flows internationally, it is estimated that full normalization of the network could take up to a week,” the statement from REN went on.
Power started returning to parts of Spain and Portugal later Monday.
REMAIN AT HOME
As news of the power cuts spread, millions of ordinary people in Spain and Portugal were ordered to stay put, while photos of underground train stations and the Madrid Open tennis tournament plunged into darkness went viral on social media.
US tennis star Coco Gauff was being interviewed on court at the Open when the power went out, as video showed the advertising hoardings behind her going blank while her microphone also went dead.
Spain’s nuclear reactors automatically stopped working after the outage, but are in a “safe condition” after emergency generators kicked in, the country’s nuclear safety council said in a statement.
Madrid’s 3.3 million inhabitants were urged to stay where they were by the city’s mayor after stoplights and highway tunnel lighting went down.
“I ask all residents of Madrid to keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are. We want to keep all roads clear,” Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said in a video posted on social media.
Madrid’s citizens should only call emergency services if it is “truly urgent,” he added.
“If emergency calls go unanswered, go to the police and the fire stations in person, where they will try to deal with all the emergencies which may present themselves.”
In Portugal, passengers of airline TAP Air were told not to travel to airports until further notice.
Parts of France also lost power briefly, but the network is now operating normally again, French grid operator RTE said.
The phenomenon, while rare, occurs when there are quick temperature changes or long periods of extreme temps — and it could happen even in the US, USA Today reported.
“The atmosphere does something to induce vibrations in power lines, which can lead to outages,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Dan DePodwin, adding that this can happen “anywhere there are transmission lines.”
