Spain has declared a state of emergency as chaos continues following the mass power cuts that hit the country along with neighbouring Portugal. Parts of south-west France were also affected.
Trains stopped, planes were grounded, traffic lights failed with mass traffic jams. Shops and businesses closed as they were unable to trade and mobile phone networks went down. Major cities including Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon were badly affected.
The cause of the massive power failures remain unclear, with some suggesting a cyber attack while other said the complexity of modern electricity networks meant a mass technical system failure was possible. The Portuguese governement said atmospheric conditions were responsible. The threat posed to electrical systems by big variations in atmospheric temperature are well known, although if it is rare to see problems on this scale.

西班牙已宣布进入紧急状态,此前全国范围的大规模停电导致持续混乱,邻国葡萄牙也遭受了类似影响。法国西南部的部分地区同样受到了波及。
火车停运、航班停飞、红绿灯失效导致大规模交通堵塞。由于无法营业,商店和企业纷纷关闭,移动通信网络也陷入瘫痪。马德里、巴塞罗那和里斯本等主要城市受到严重影响。
关于这场大规模电力故障的原因尚不明确,有人认为可能是遭遇了网络攻击,也有人指出,现代电力系统本身的复杂性可能导致技术性系统崩溃。而葡萄牙政府则表示,造成此次事故的是大气原因。虽然大气温度剧烈变化对电力系统构成威胁早已为人所知,但如此大规模的问题依然十分罕见。