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Spain Power Outage: Millions Affected By Massive Blackout In Europe

Here's what we know so far about this widespread blackout.

Huge Power Outage Strikes Spain, France, Portugal

Millions were plunged into darkness in Europe on Monday as a massive power outage impacted parts of Spain, France and Portugal.

The blackout wreaked havoc on travel across the three countries, and the impacts extended beyond there, too.

What We Know So Far:

- The cause of the blackout is under investigation, but officials with Portuguese energy company REN suggested that "due to extreme temperature variations in the interior or Spain, there were anomalous oscillations in the very high voltage lines (400 KV), a phenomenon known as 'induced atmospheric vibration,'" according to a BBC.com report. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez mentioned that a "strong oscillation" was behind the outage but said no conclusions about the cause could be determined yet.

- Temperatures were relatively mild and comfortable in the affected areas on Monday afternoon, but crews are working feverishly to try to restore power to as many customers as possible before nightfall, when temperatures will drop to cooler but not dangerous levels.

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- Trains in Spain and Portugal were halted and traffic lights went dark. In Lisbon, Portugal, the main airport's terminals were closed following the outage. Many other major hubs in the region were operating on generator power.

- Spain's parliament closed for the day, and the Madrid Open tennis tournament postponed all afternoon and evening matches.

- The blackout cut power to some 50 million people in the Iberian Peninsula, according to the Associated Press.

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- Some areas were starting to get power again a few hours after the outage began, but the grid operator in Spain estimated six to 10 hours before the majority of customers get their lights back on. In some areas, it's likely to be even longer.

- The outage is not believed to be the result of a cyberattack.

- Spain was using electricity from France and Morocco to help get power restored to northern and southern parts of the country.