Millions were left powerless in Spain, Portugal and France on April 28 after what officials called an “induced atmospheric vibration,” or a rare phenomenon where weather changes affect power lines.
The outage was centered in Spain, where the lack of power caused widespread chaos. Renfe, Spain’s national railway company, said on social media that the “entire national electricity grid was cut off” at 12:30 p.m. local time.
It brought parts of Spain and Portugal to a standstill, grounding planes, halting public transport and forcing some hospitals to suspend routine operations.
According to a report from the BBC, Portuguese energy company REN suggested that “due to extreme temperature variations in the interior of Spain, there were anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines (400 KV), a phenomenon known as ‘induced atmospheric vibration.'”
See photos of the power outage in Spain, Portugal, France
A worker assists a customer with a torch at a supermarket during a power outage which hit large parts of Spain, in Barcelona, Spain April 28, 2025.
People use their mobile phone’s flashlights to walk in the dark during a nationwide power outage in Madrid, Spain, April 28, 2025.
A man has trouble counting coins in low light in a store due to a nationwide power outage in Madrid, Spain, April 28, 2025.
A man waits for the metro station to be opened, during a power outage, in Madrid, Spain, April 28, 2025.
Contributing: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Photos shows massive power outage striking Spain, Portugal