World News for Students of English

02-05-2025 07:00

Spain and Portugal have experienced a major power failure that caused chaos across both countries and parts of southern France.

The blackout stopped trains, grounded planes, and caused serious road problems as traffic lights stopped working. Many cities, including Madrid, Barcelona, and Lisbon, were badly affected. Shops and businesses had to close, and people couldn’t use phones or pay by card, which led to panic buying in some areas.

The reason behind the blackout is still unclear. Some experts said it might be due to a failure in the complex electricity network, while others blamed extreme weather conditions. The Portuguese government suggested atmospheric changes caused the issue, but a cyber attack has been ruled out for now. People were told to use their phones only when necessary to avoid putting more pressure on the limited system.

Although power is slowly coming back in some areas, it may take days for everything to return to normal. The event shows how fragile modern electricity systems can be.

Difficult words: atmospheric (related to the air and weather), brand (easily broken or damaged).

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