Power Cut Causes Transport Chaos Across The UK

“I realised that nothing was open and there was hardly any phone signal,” the 26-year-old told Press Association.

“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.”

The power cut also affected homes and businesses nationwide. 

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said 110,000 of its customers lost power.

She said the problem was with the National Grid’s transmission network, which distributes high voltage energy from power stations across the UK.

Northern Powergrid serves 3.9 million homes and businesses in the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire.

Those affected lost power between around 5.10pm and 6pm – around half an hour later than those in Southern areas of the UK. 

The power cuts were “quite spread apart, [which is] quite unusual”, the spokeswoman said.