'Everything went off': How Spain and Portugal's massive power cut unfolded

The archetypal motion of occupation Peter Hughes noticed was erstwhile his bid to Madrid starting to dilatory down.

Then the TV show and lights went off. Emergency lights switched on, but did not last, and the locomotive crushed to a halt.

Four hours later, Mr Hughes was inactive stuck connected the bid 200 kilometres (124 miles) extracurricular of Spain's capital. He had nutrient and water, but the toilets were not working.

"It volition beryllium getting acheronian soon and we could beryllium stuck present for hours," helium told the BBC.

The monolithic powerfulness chopped that stranded Mr Hughes triggered chaos crossed Spain and Portugal, and besides impacted Andorra and parts of France, from astir midday section clip (10:00 GMT).

Traffic lights unopen off. Metros closed. Businesses shuttered and radical joined queues to get currency arsenic paper payments did not work.

Jonathan Emery was connected a antithetic bid halfway betwixt Seville and Madrid erstwhile the cuts hit.

For an hour, helium sat connected the train, the doors closed, until radical could pry them unfastened to fto successful ventilation. Half an hr later, passengers left, lone to find themselves stranded.

That was erstwhile radical from section villages started coming and dropping disconnected supplies – water, bread, fruit.

"Nobody is charging for anything, and connection indispensable beryllium getting astir successful the section municipality due to the fact that radical conscionable support coming," helium said.

In Madrid, Hannah Lowney was fractional mode done scanning her market buying astatine Aldi erstwhile the powerfulness went out.

People were coming retired of their offices and walking location due to the fact that they could not archer erstwhile the buses were coming, Ms Lowney said successful a dependable connection sent to BBC Radio 5 Live.

"It's a spot disconcerting that it's the full country, I've ne'er experienced this before," she said.

Mark England was eating luncheon successful the edifice of the edifice wherever is staying connected vacation successful Benidorm erstwhile "everything went disconnected and the occurrence alarm started going disconnected and the occurrence doors started closing".

In an planetary schoolhouse successful Lisbon, the energy flickered connected and disconnected for a while, past gave up, teacher Emily Thorowgood said.

She kept teaching successful the dark, the children successful bully spirits, but tons of parents were taking their children retired of school, she said.

Will David, a Briton surviving successful Lisbon, was having a haircut and beard trim successful the basement of a barber erstwhile the powerfulness went down. The barber recovered him a spot by the model upstairs to decorativeness the chopped with scissors.

"The locomotion location felt precise strange, some with the deficiency of postulation lights meaning a implicit free-for-all for vehicles and pedestrians connected the roads - arsenic good arsenic truthful galore radical milling astir extracurricular their places of enactment with thing to do," helium said.

Initially, mobile telephone networks besides went down for some, leaving galore scrambling for information.

Curtis Gladden, who is successful La Vall D'Uixo, astir 30 miles from Valencia, said it was "scary" arsenic helium struggled to get updates astir what was happening.

Eloise Edgington, who could not bash immoderate enactment arsenic a copywriter successful Barcelona, said she was lone receiving occasional messages, could not load web pages connected her telephone and was trying to conserve her battery.

An hr and a fractional aft the powerfulness went out, 1 nonmigratory of Fortuna, successful south-east Spain, said her hubby was driving around, trying to find a petrol presumption that could proviso substance to tally a generator and support their fridge powered.

"We are disquieted astir food, water, currency and petrol successful lawsuit this goes connected for a mates of days," said Lesley, a Brit who has been surviving successful Spain for 11 years.

Locals "have much to interest about" than the Madrid Open tennis tourney being suspended, she said, adding determination is "very small quality astir what's happened".

Mr England said walking down the thoroughfare successful Benidorm, a "majority of shops are successful acheronian and shuttered oregon person radical connected the entrances saying you can't travel in. There's nary currency machines, nary postulation lights truthful it's strange."

After Mr Gladden's telephone awesome returned aft astir 2 hours, helium and others ventured retired to cafes, but recovered "nothing is moving – we came to get immoderate nutrient and a portion but they can't navigator without electricity".

Within 2 hours, Spanish powerfulness grid relation Red Electrica said it was opening to retrieve powerfulness successful the northbound and southbound of the country.

But two-and-a-half hours aft the cuts, Madrid's politician José Luis Martínez-Almeida inactive urged each residents to "keep their movements to an implicit minimum and, if astatine each possible, to stay wherever they are", successful a video recorded from the city's integrated exigency information centre.

At 15:00 section time, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pulled unneurotic an "extraordinary" gathering of Spain's nationalist information council.

Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto said astatine a quality league soon afterwards that it could instrumentality "between six and 10 hours" to reconstruct power.

Just earlier 16:00, energy flicked backmost connected successful Malaga. By 17:00, the grid relation said powerfulness was being restored "in respective areas of the north, southbound and westbound of the [Iberian] peninsula".

Portugal's powerfulness steadfast REN gave a much dire prediction, saying that it could "take up to a week" earlier the web was backmost to normal.

Knock connected effects continue: Back-up generators astatine airports kicked on, allowing astir flights to permission connected time, but immoderate person been incapable to operate.

Tom McGilloway, connected vacation successful Lisbon, was owed to instrumentality to London connected Monday night, but arsenic of aboriginal evening did not cognize what would happen.

He said for the clip being radical were getting drinks and nutrient - but vendors told him they would lone beryllium capable to support moving until the batteries ran retired connected their outgo terminals.

"If I request to publication a edifice if the level is cancelled, I don't cognize however I tin bash it if payments are down," helium added.

"My partner's parents are trying to get petrol truthful they tin prime america up to instrumentality america backmost to Alentejo but galore petrol stations are closed oregon not taking payment. We mightiness beryllium stuck with nary program for wherever to enactment tonight."