Are you affected? We want to hear from you

Are you in Spain or Portugal and affected by the power outage? We want to hear from you 

Get in touch via WhatsApp here or share your experiences in the comments box. By sending us your video footage, photographs or audio you agree we can publish, broadcast and edit the material. 

Empty shelves and sold-out candles – as Brit walked home for 80 minutes

We’ve just had these pictures sent in from Barcelona, where 23-year-old English language teacher Ellie Rice found supermarket shelves emptied.

Ellie, from Liverpool, has told us she had to walk home from work – a full one hour and 20 minutes – due to the “complete collapse” of public transport in the city centre.

On the way back, she stopped by Mercadona supermarket, but couldn’t find much.

Candles are sold out, and several aisles appear to be virtually empty.

“There is a lot of panic on the streets, people are very visibility worried,” she added.

“When I was walking home, I heard numerous people shouting about some conspiracies, for example, whether this has all been planned by hackers causing further distress to the public.”

The cause of the outage is not yet clear, but so far authorities have said there is no indication of a cyberattack.

Ellie said one of her friends took a taxi home for what should have been a 30-minute journey.

Instead, it lasted four hours, she said.

“She didn’t even know if she would get home with the traffic, all the traffic lights being out and the long queues of people waiting for taxis,” Ellie added.

“So, financially, I can imagine for a lot of people it’s been a very challenging day.

“Everyone seems to be scrambling for food and sources of light such as candles and torches, as shown in my photos with the empty shelves.”

Thousands of police deployed as blackout stretches into evening

As the sun sets on Spain, the interior ministry has said it’s deploying 30,000 police officers to maintain security.

They will be deployed nationwide, the ministry added.

Watch: Confusion and isolation as Brits in Spain react to outages

The question on everyone’s lips is “when will it come back?” – rather than “why has this happened?”

That’s according to one Barcelona resident, while another in Spain is on the 13th floor and doesn’t want to venture out, for obvious reasons.

No flights from Lisbon until 10pm

An update to bring you now from Portugal’s airport operator.

ANA has just said it does not expect flights to take off from Lisbon until 10pm local time.

Flights are running from Porto and Faro airports, but with limitations, it added.

If you want to know what you can and can’t do if your flight is impacted, see our post at 17.45.

‘No information’ that cyberattack caused outage, says Portuguese grid operator

Portugal’s grid operator said it has “no information” the power outages were caused by a cyberattack.

Ren board member Joao Conceicao has told reporters it can’t be ruled out that the blackout was due to a “very large oscillation in the electrical voltages, first in the Spanish system, which then spread to the Portuguese system”.

“There could be a thousand and one causes, it’s premature to assess the cause,” he added.

Conceicao said they hope to reestablish power in the country’s second-largest city, Porto, within the next two hours and within five or six in the capital, Lisbon.

State of emergency declared in Spain

Spain’s interior ministry has declared a state of emergency after today’s nationwide power blackout. 

The ministry added emergency status will be applied in the regions that request it.

So far, Madrid, Andalusia and Extremadura have asked for the central government to take over public order and other functions.

Millions of people across Spain have been affected by the blackouts, as have key industries such as transportation and telecommunications.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said a “strong oscillation” in the grid is behind the outage, but the cause is still unclear.

Passengers still stuck on plane ‘for more than two hours’

The impact of the mass blackout is being felt in the UK as well.

We’ve just had a message in from Jason Candy-Torn, who says he’s been stuck on a plane at Manchester Airport.

He’s due to fly to Agadir, in Morocco, and the flight was meant to take off at 4.50pm.

The airport’s website listed that flight’s status as “final call”, with no information on the delay.

In the meantime, Jason showed us a picture of these little treats.

“All we have been told is that they are waiting for an answer, and they have just given us this to get us going,” he said, adding the plane’s door is still open.

Staff are on the ground outside, who Jason said are constantly in and out of the plane.

Just joined us? Here’s what you need to know in seven bullet points

We’ve just passed eight hours since the first reports of a blackout emerged, since which time we’ve had a number of significant developments.

If you’re just joining us – or you just want a recap – here’s a quick breakdown of what you need to know in seven quick points:

• Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and Lisbon are among cities to have been hit by a major power outage;
• Transport, internet services and water pumps have all been affected;
• Power is starting to return in some parts of Spain, but in Portugal the grid operator says it is more complicated;
• It added it could take up to a week for the network to fully normalise again – after “rare atmospheric phenomenon” affected Spain’s systems;
• Drivers in Spain have been urged not to use their cars unless necessary, and phones should be used “responsibly” as telecommunications are at a “critical moment”;
• Portugal’s grid operator E-Redes said the outage was due to “a problem with the European electricity system”;
• There is no indication at the moment of the cause of the outage.

In pictures: Gridlock in Madrid as crowds gather on streets in Spain

These are some of the latest pictures coming out of Spain, showing gridlock in Madrid and huge crowds outside a train station in Barcelona.

Power recovery ‘especially complex’ in Portugal

Portugal’s electricity distributor has restored production at a hydroelectric and thermoelectric plant, it has said.

But Ren added these kind of operations are “particularly complex” compared to Spain, given Portugal relies on its own resources only, rather than contributions from France and Morocco.

It added it was prioritising supply to key infrastructure, such as hospitals, airports and railways.