At a glance.
- Massive power outage hits the Iberian Peninsula.
- SAP patches maximum-severity zero-day flaw.
- Marks & Spencer suspends online orders following cyber incident.
Massive power outage hits the Iberian Peninsula.
A huge power blackout struck the Iberian Peninsula at midday local time today, cutting electricity across Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and parts of southern France. Spanish grid operator Red Eléctrica said this morning that restoring power could take between six and ten hours, while Portugal's grid operator expects full recovery to take up to a week.
NPR says the outage knocked out subway networks, phone lines, and traffic lights. Reuters notes that the incident has "paralysed public transport," causing large traffic jams and flight delays across the region.
Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida has asked all residents to "keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are," the BBC reports. The mayor 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."
The Spanish Cybersecurity Coordination Office is investigating, but there's no indication yet that a cyberattack was involved. Portugal's grid operator, Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) has attributed the outage to a "rare atmospheric phenomenon" that disrupted Spain's electric grid. According to RTE, REN said extreme temperature variations in Spain caused oscillations in voltage lines, leading to synchronisation failures between the electrical systems. Spain hasn't commented on these claims.