Millions hit by blackout after failure of Continental electricity grid

Western Europe came perilously close to a total electricity blackout on Saturday night after a power failure in Germany plunged five million French homes into darkness.
The cut, which affected 10 percent of France's population, was described as the its worst in 30 years. Hundreds of thousands of homes across Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain were also affected.
The incident began at 10.13pm and lasted an hour but its cause was still unclear yesterday. Germany electricity supplier RWE initially suggested a surge in demand due to a cold snap caused "overheating" in two 400,000 volt lines.
However, E.On, another supplier, later said the failure could have been because of its decision to shut down two high-tension lines over the river Ems to allow a cruise liner to pass safely under. Demand in France was also higher than usual. The failure sparked a "house of cards" effect, said Pierre Bornard, a board member of RTE, a subsidiary of Electricité de France.
"We were not very far off a complete European 'blackout'," he said, adding that automatic safety systems instantly cut off a share of consumption. "This is the only way to avoid complete collapse." The systems are designed to ensure that high-priority zones, like hospitals, are not affected.
In France, central and eastern Paris were hit first with cuts spreading to 15 regions. Large parts of western Germany, Belgium, Spain and Italy were affected.
Romano Prodi, Italy's president, said the incident showed that Europe must strengthen its co-ordination of power supplies. He said: "We depend on each other with being able to help each other, without a central authority."
A spokesman for Ofgem, the British energy regulator, said yesterday that there were "well-rehearsed plans in place" to prevent power cuts in Britain.