UK power cuts - live updates: Nearly one million people affected by major outages across country with trains, airports and traffic lights impacted

Power cuts london and south east hit by massive national grid failure as traffic lights go down

The UK was hit by a massive power cut on Friday, as traffic lights were knocked out, trains came to a standstill and aircraft were grounded during rush hour.

Large parts of the country were without electricity following the power cut, utility suppliers said, with outages reported in the North West, South West, the Midlands and Wales.

The UK Power Networks tweeted on Friday evening: "We're aware of a power cut affecting large parts of London and South East.

"We believe this is due to a failure on National Grid's network, which is affecting our customers."

Train services in and out of London, including Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express saw delays and cancellations on Friday evening.

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Traffic lights in the capital were also experiencing some problems and the Victoria Line on the London Underground was suspended, Transport for London said.

They tweeted on Friday evening warning people to be cautious when using the roads.

Key Points

• Major power cut reported across London and the South East
• Nearly one million people affected by outages, utility suppliers confirm
• National Grid ESO says power cut was caused by "loss of two generators"
• London Kings Cross Station closed to avoid overcrowding
• Energy watchdog demands 'urgent report' on what went wrong today

[9 August 2019 22:31 · Jon di Paolo]

More bad news for anyone trying to travel towards or from London St Pancras, as National Rail has said no East Midlands Trains will run between Bedford and London for the rest of the day.

[9 August 2019 23:10 · Jon di Paolo]

Earlier, transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris acknowledged that it had been an "incredibly difficult and frustrating evening for rail passengers".

[9 August 2019 23:17 · Jon di Paolo]

On that subject, here's what one passenger - a civil servant who went by the name of Simon - told the Press Association this evening after he learned his train to Wakefield was cancelled.

"At the moment, they have a standard announcement going saying, 'We're suffering delays'.

"Delays is one thing, but there isn't a single train leaving. Nobody is saying what's going on.

"There isn't a single train moving in or out and the police haven't a clue what's going on.

"We have no idea what to do."

[9 August 2019 23:25 · Jon di Paolo]

Energy watchdog Ofgem have released a statement on the power cut, saying it has demanded an urgent report on what went wrong today.

The organisation said:

"In any incident the priority is to get power restored to customers as quickly as possible. National Grid has now informed Ofgem that the system has been restored.

"However, Ofgem understands the frustration this power cut has caused consumers.

"Ofgem has asked for an urgent detailed report from National Grid so we can understand what went wrong and decide what further steps need to be taken. This could include enforcement action.''

[9 August 2019 23:34 · Jon di Paolo]

Thameslink has said disruption is expected to continue until 12:00 tomorrow.

[9 August 2019 23:52 · Jon di Paolo]

That's all for today. You can check National Rail or your local train service on Twitter for updates on any rail disruption through the night and tomorrow morning.