Furious Britons have slammed the nation’s ‘creaking infrastructure’ after major power cuts caused ‘total and utter chaos’ across the country on Friday evening.
The blackouts, which started at around 5pm and affected areas including London and the South East, as well as the Midlands and the North West, saw homes, airports, trains and even traffic lights go down.
That National Grid said the outage was due to a technical fault at two power generators. And there are claims problems may have been caused by issues at a gas-fired power station and at a wind farm off the coast of Yorkshire.
Those caught up in the chaos have been expressing their anger at the outage, with Catio Miles saying on Twitter: ‘I enjoy how the government speaks about rocket launching the economy when in fact the infrastructure is at breaking point.’
Commuters had to use the torches on their phones as they walked in complete darkness at Clapham Junction during a power cut
King’s Cross Station in London was evacuated following the power cut and commuters were forbidden from passing through the ticket gates
Commuters are taken off a Thameslink train this afternoon following the power outage, which caused major disruption across the country
Customers were forced to finish their shopping in darkness as a Sainsbury’s store in Sydenham, south London was hit by the widespread power cut
Furious Britons took to Twitter during the power cut to express their dismay at the country’s infrastructure crumbling underneath the outages (above and below)
While another said: ‘Power cuts, leaking airports, train tracks that can’t handle hot weather, creaking tubes; there are banana republics that have better infrastructure.’
Farhana Begum, who was travelling to London St Pancras, said she’d ‘never experienced such disorder’ as the power cut.
She told MailOnline: ‘I arrived at London St Pancras today to absolute carnage, there was disorder and no one knew a thing other then an announcement every 20mins to say no trains were running due to a power fault.
‘There was scrams of passengers but only one East Midlands employee at the desk struggling to answer everyone’s questions.
‘I managed to grab a member of the transport police who told me to grab an Uber home and all costs will be reimbursed by East Midlands trains services if I had the correct information.
‘An Uber home from London to Bedford cost me £249.48 when a train ticket usually costs £16.55.
‘Absolute nightmare, as a frequent user of trains I can say I’ve never experienced such disorder.’
While Sarah Cure, who was stuck at King’s Cross, also told MailOnline: ‘Total and utter chaos and I will not be getting to my destination tonight.
‘I didn’t see anyone offering hotel rooms either. It’s a disgrace.’
An office block in Newcastle was left in the dark as its electricity cut out during the power outage
The escalators at King’s Cross station stopped working following the power cut and commuters were prevented from entering the station
Traffic lights went dark at a busy junction on Northcote Road near Clapham Junction, south west London (pictured)
People have been taking to Twitter to complain about the power outages (above and below), which caused delays of up to two hours for some commuters
Others on Twitter slammed the outage, with Daniella Piper saying: ‘Absolute nightmare trying to get back to London tonight from Edinburgh.
‘Travelling for over nine hours and then train terminated at Stevenage with no replacement buses or trains. Getting into the foetal position now.’
While others claimed the outage was a disgrace, with Michael Niven saying: ‘Boris Johnson and his brutal Tory regime are a national disgrace.
‘What you are experiencing is called a power cut. Probably caused by lack of investment by the national disgrace.’
Concerned residents reported power outages at their homes.
One in Derbyshire told MailOnline: ‘Our whole estate had all the burglar alarms going off, and there were a few police sirens.’
While Claire Wynn, who runs a PR company, also told MailOnline: ‘We are heading off on our honeymoon in the morning on a holiday of a lifetime cruise with Royal Caribbean from Southampton and currently we are stuck on a train at Peterborough with several trains stuck ahead of us.
‘Another train has been told to get on our train as well so it is overfilled, hot and cramped.’
Harriet Jackson described an ‘apocalyptic’ scene when she witnessed the power outage causing traffic lights to cut out on Northcote Road in Battersea, London, after leaving Clapham Junction train station at around 5pm.
‘(I) realised that nothing was open and there was hardly any phone signal,’ the 26-year-old said.
‘All the traffic lights were down, but there were no police present, which meant it was dangerous to cross – cars weren’t stopping either.
‘It was like witnessing something out of an apocalyptic film.
‘No one knew what was going on and, given it’s a Friday afternoon, it’s the last thing you want to encounter.’
And at a Sainbury’s in London, people appeared to make off with free shopping, with an eye-witness saying: ‘No one knew what to do. The staff just asked everyone to abandon their trolleys and leave.
‘But with no security cameras or alarms, people were just leaving with all their shopping. Someone walked out with a hoover.’
Commuters abandoned a train from Highbury and Islington, after a power outage caused it to stop on the tracks
People walking in complete darkness at Clapham Junction station in London during a power cut
Ticket barriers stopped working after a major power cut caused a loss of electricity across vast swathes of the country (pictured, at Clapham Junction in London)
UK Power Networks, who control power lines for London and the South East, and Western Power Distribution in Midlands, the South West and Wales both confirmed widespread outages (pictured, a motorist directing traffic in Gateshead, near Newcastle this evening)
Passengers at King’s Cross Station in London were also affected, with the station evacuated and commuters not allowed to enter through the ticket barriers.
One of those affected, Richard North, said: ‘Would be interesting to know who will compensate the £120 taxi or the fines for collecting children three hours late from two separate childcare providers.
‘Two children who were meant to be in bed an hour ago and we’re still in a taxi.’
Scott McKenzie was travelling through Newcastle Airport when the power cut out for around 15 minutes, in what he was told by officials was ‘due to a wider problem in the region’.
‘It was a bit worrying to start – more so because various alarms were going off and staff clearly didn’t quite know what was going on either,’ the 31-year-old from Cardiff said.
‘Some of the spaces in the airport have little daylight – we were literally plunged into darkness and people were using their phones as torches to see and get around.’
Mr McKenzie said the problem at the airport ‘seems to have been resolved’ and Newcastle Airport said it is aware of the power issues but flights have not been disrupted.
Problems with power were first detected late on Friday afternoon, when UK Power Networks, who control power lines for London and the South East, and Western Power Distribution in Midlands, the South West and Wales both confirmed widespread outages.