Massive power cuts hit Spain and Portugal

Madrid's Metro stations were closed after the power cut

Huge power cuts have affected parts of Spain, Portugal and France.

The office of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the government is "dedicating all possible resources to resolve it as quickly as possible" and explained at a news conference that the cause of the power cut isn't known.

Homes, schools, businesses, trains, traffic lights and card payments were all affected, and mobile phone networks went down in parts of Spain too.

Meanwhile, in Portugal, airlines told passengers not to travel to airports until further notice.

Authorities say they're trying hard to get power running normally again but are also trying to figure out why it happened.

What has happened?

In Madrid officers are directing cars after the traffic lights went out

At one international school in Lisbon, Portugal, a teacher told the BBC she had been "teaching in the dark" after the power went off at around midday.

"Lots of parents are taking their children out due to the power cuts," she said. "It was flashing on and off for a long while but seems to have finally given up."

At a school in Spain's capital, Madrid, a teacher said the problems began affecting her school and the area it's in at around 12:45 local time (11:45 UK time), but that "luckily" lunches had already been cooked for the children.

She also said pupils at her school were aware there's a power blackout but didn't know what was going on as they can't use phones on school premises and don't have access to Wi-Fi.

People queued at train and bus stations to see how they would be able to travel

In Madrid, the mayor told locals to stay where they are rather than go outside.

"I ask all residents of Madrid to keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are. We want to keep all roads clear," said José Luis Martínez-Almeida.

The boss of the organisation in charge of managing Spain's electricity said that restoring power could take hours.

Speaking at a news conference, Red Electrica CEO Eduardo Prieto told reporters that the operation to solve the issue could take "between six and ten hours".

Portugal's power company firm REN, said that getting thing back to normal in the country "could take up to a week".

These young fans had to leave the Madrid Open tennis tournament

Sport has been affected too, with play suspended at the Madrid Open - an annual tennis tournament.

British tennis player Jacob Fearnley had to leave the court after the loss of power affected scoreboards and a camera above the court.

Andorra and parts of France were also affected - although French authorities say the power came back on quickly - but the Spanish islands of Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca seem not to have been affected.

In Portugal, police say traffic lights are also down, and some public transport in Lisbon and Porto is closed with some airports also affected.