Parts of Montenegro, Croatia, Bosnia and Albania hit by power outages

Large parts of Montenegro, Bosnia, Albania and Croatia’s Dalmatian coast were hit by a power outage today. Local media report that the so-called blackout caused chaos on the roads. Power supplies are gradually being restored. The region is currently experiencing a heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

According to N1, traffic lights were not working in the Croatian city of Split, while the sirens of emergency services could be heard across the city. Power was also cut in Dubrovnik, Zadar, Omiš, Makarska and a number of Dalmatian islands. Trams stopped in Bosnia’s capital, Sarajevo, and many other cities across the country were also left without electricity.

“There is already complete chaos on the roads, the traffic lights aren’t working, and people can’t buy anything in shops because the systems aren’t working. Restaurants, cafés… everyone is in huge trouble,” the Croatian newspaper Slobodna Dalmacija reported.

According to N1, power supplies were restored in parts of Dalmatia and Montenegro less than an hour after the outage began.

In Montenegro, only cities in the north of the country had electricity. The outage was also confirmed on social media by CEDIS, Montenegro’s transmission system operator.

The outage also occurred in Albania, where power supplies have since been restored. According to broadcaster A2, the country’s transmission system operator OST said the fault occurred on an interconnector with Greece. Extreme temperatures were to blame.

N1 notes that it is still unclear what caused the blackout. Initial reports pointed to a fault in Montenegro’s transmission system, from where the outage spread further. According to the HINA news agency, the power system has never before collapsed in three countries at the same time.

Summers are regularly hot in the Balkans, but temperatures rarely reach 40 degrees Celsius as early as mid-June, the AP news agency notes. Meteorologists say the current heatwave was caused by hot air from Africa.

Earlier this week, authorities in North Macedonia introduced emergency measures in response to the high temperatures. They are due to remain in force until Sunday, when the heat is expected to begin easing. Serbia has also advised people to avoid staying in the sun between 11:00 and 15:00.