Romans had been celebrating when the power went

Most of Italy has been hit by a massive power cut.

The blackout came as a result of a malfunction of major supply lines from France - the two countries have a long-standing electricity exchange scheme to help deal with peaks in demand on both sides.

It is the latest in a series of major blackouts to affect national power grids - north-east United States and Canada were hit last month, and Denmark and southern Sweden on Tuesday.

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

Your reaction

Cost cutting when nothing goes wrong is the surest way to insure that one day it will Mark, USA

The larger the grid, the more widespread the consequences when something goes wrong. The key to reliability is lots and lots of redundancy both in the generating capacity and in the transmission system. It also takes a large well trained and funded team to maintain the equipment. Cost cutting when nothing goes wrong is the surest way to insure that one day it will.
Mark, USA

So many major power cuts in such a short time, that hit whole or major part of countries, to me that is not just a coincidence! Imagine this happening in the middle of winter. Can't bear the thought!
Elisabeth, The Netherlands

Having been in the power industry most of my life, I have seen the decline of staff and maintenance services throughout the whole sectors of the industry. The effort to make profits has left behind an aged system that will not cope with the increase in demand for electrical power. The industry needs investment and better maintenance services to prevent the inevitable future breakdowns that will become more frequent.
tom wheeler, UAE

One more terrorist attack which nobody wants to admit. Is everybody asleep? Do I have to go to Switzerland myself to check these power lines in order to get the truth?
Gabriel, USA

USA, Canada, London, Denmark and now Italy. Too many blackouts in very short time, a little bit strange, isn't it? We had the first blackout in June but it was clearly provoked by big consume of energy for fighting the high temperature. Now every blackout is due to a strange cause that cut off entire countries. Key word: Beware.
Fabrizio, Torino, Italy

It was very strange driving in completely darkness Fabry, Turin, Italy

I was driving home at 3am when suddenly electricity went off. It was very strange driving in completely darkness, without seeing any reference points, no traffic lights, no buildings, anything. When I arrived home I automatically switched on the light but it didn't come back. It was all black around I dramatically felt lost and impotent. At last I think this situation should be analyzed carefully, too many blackouts in a short period of time.
Fabry, Turin, Italy

Although many comments have pointed to the similarities between black-outs occurring recently across the West, the one in Italy displays an important difference: it took place when energy consumption was at its lowest. Apparently, a single tree falling in a Swiss wood could switch off an entire country: some still wonder how Italy made it into the monetary union, and I am beginning to wonder if going cheap on infrastructures was part of the reason.
Roberto Orosei, Italy

Don't tell our Prime Minister Berlusconi for goodness sake, but these power cuts are turning me into a communist, dare I use the word in the present political climate. What is the point in having private companies providing electricity when they are rightly or wrongly more concerned with paying me dividends (yes I have shares in ENEL) than with creating a decent infrastructure for the future? Anyone want any cut-price shares? - my conscience won't allow me to hold onto them.
Anthony Green, Bari, Italy

You cannot fuel a modern 21st Century world economy with an aging 20th Century power grid and infrastructure Ed Harris, USA

This is an inevitable result of conflicting priorities between governments who must appease environmentalists and citizens who don't want power plants and infrastructure in "their back yard" and increased public demands for greater goods, services and comforts, which demand ever greater amounts of electric power. You cannot fuel a modern 21st Century world economy with an aging 20th Century power grid and infrastructure.
Ed Harris, USA

I was in the New York blackout. I had family and friends in the London blackout. Then Denmark/Sweden, and now Italy. Doesn't this seem a bit strange to anyone?
Zoe Malcolm, USA

To have major power cuts in US, Sweden, London and Italy in the space of a month cannot be a coincidence. I think it is time to consider the very real probability that this could be the work of aliens.
Julian, England

Waking up to a blackout on Sunday morning was just an inconvenience Ian Watson, Scotland

This weekend was my first visit to Rome. Didn't know anything about the "White Night" celebrations until I arrived and certainly hadn't seen so many people/ traffic on the roads as I did on Saturday. Waking up to a blackout on Sunday morning was just an inconvenience - no water for a shower, no hot food for breakfast and, with most places closed, plans had to be changed. Didn't destroy memories of a wonderful weekend - so much to see!
Ian Watson, Scotland

Major power cuts like the ones which have been hitting the West are only a problem because we have become so dependant on electricity. Being Belgian/English but having spent a large chunk of my childhood (in the 80s) in Zaire (Dem. Rep. of Congo) you just accepted that it was all part of the way of life, even when the power cuts went on for days and days or happened three times a week. I never remember it being a big deal.
Hanna Willems, Living in Spain

Power cuts are a wonderful way to remind us that we should take nothing for granted. In India we have them all the time and I welcome the periods of silence they bring. And imagine the population explosion there'll be in Italy in nine months time!
Savita, India

How smug were we remembering the words of the Chairman of Electricity after the NY blackout "That this could NEVER happen in Italy" Ruth, Lecce, London

Stuck in Lecce without electricity, we couldn't get money out, or petrol to drive home to Naples, no water, no mobile network, no coffee! The locals were worried that in south Italy, they'd be forgotten. But how smug were we remembering the words of the Chairman of Electricity after the NY blackout "That this could NEVER happen in Italy...!"
Ruth, Lecce, London

It's really worrying to know that the world's major cities and now even a whole country can be disabled so easily.
Mohammed Tahir, London, UK

I was in Termini railway station with thousands of people. An American girl was crying asking me for help in reaching her hotel. I walked to home for about 6 kilometres in the absolute dark and in the rain. Rome, we have a problem!
Ettore, Italy, Rome

It was about 3.30am,we were in a disco when suddenly all lights and sound systems went off. Initially nobody realised what had really happened as the disco was supplied by a power generator of its own. Only 2 hours later, once we quit the disco we became aware of the black-out. We wasted the whole of Sunday morning hoping the electricity would come back. We experienced for a day how hard the life was before the invention of the electricity. I found a bit ridiculous that the entire nation depends on a single nuclear central
Daniele & Francesco, Italy

Yesterday morning none of us had a clue about it... We spent a very long day in our house, and to relieve boredom we read some books...those books that we haven't been reading for years! What a cultural day!
Alessandra & Sabrina, Latina, Italy

I woke up at 9.30am and only then I realised that electricity was missing. The worst was the lack of water. I spent the morning like my grandparents used to; it's something to try more often.
Francesco Totti, Italy

I live in Tuscany and I went to bed before and woke up after the black out. I discovered what was happening when friends started calling me to chat about how did I manage in the emergency. I suppose a lot of people slept through the black out and I am planning to sleep through the 'blame game' that always starts in this situations. Meanwhile, I'll try to change my behaviour to an energy-saving mode.
Gabriella Arcadu, Italy

Is it purely coincidence that there have been several major power blackouts across the world? USA, UK and now Italy. Not terrorism I am sure but is there an underlying reason?
Richard White, London, UK

The problem was acerbated here in Sicily not only because it lasted longer (in Messina, where I live, we were without power for 14 hours), but because the water supply is dependent on electrical pumping systems, so we had no water either. It became immediately and tangibly clear just how vulnerable our infrastructures are. Today everyone is eating canned food, since all fresh meat, fish and dairy products have had to be binned.
Simon Tanner, Sicily, Italy

Too bad this event will give a persuasive argument to all those supporting the building of new nuclear plants Oliver, Bergamo,Italy

We were dancing at a nightclub when at 0330 (0130 GMT) all lights and sound systems went off. Emergency signs appeared, after a few minutes someone from the staff told us that a nation-wide blackout had occurred and it would take hours to recover, asked to proceed with "no panic" to the exit. But of course most people were stricken with panic, feared a terrorist attack. It was a 45 minutes drive to go back home. It was all pitch black along the highway. It was scary. Thank goodness mobile phones were working, so we could keep in touch. In the neighbourhood where I live, electricity was back at 0530 (0330 GMT), so the impact was minimal. I don't know what and who has to be blamed for this mess, just four major power cuts in less than two months is a very bizarre coincidence. Too bad this event will give a persuasive argument to all those supporting the building of new nuclear plants in this country!
Oliver, Bergamo, Italy

None of us here in Assisi knew exactly what was happening. Thank-you BBC. There was no other way of knowing what had gone wrong.
Rosemary alabaster, Italy (English)

Yesterday night, I was having a late dinner with friends when suddenly the lights went down and we were not able to open the electric gate of my friend's house... so we spent the whole night singing in the garden and looking at a very starry sky!!
Simona, Como, Italy

I'd rather be in Italy in the dark than just about anywhere else with the lights blasting.
Maria Verona, Oregon, USA

The first "White Night" in Rome has not been a big success. Thousands of people stuck in the underground and we have been sleeping in a building entrance for 5 hours! We need more electric power. I wish we had some nuclear power!
Danilo and Emma, Italy

Really amazing... no electricity means no water! To see people (me too) going to fountains with a lots of bottles in order to take water! Queues and queues for few litres. How fragile we are!
Stefano, Lecce, Italy

Here power returned at 1350 (local time). No Water, no television, no public lighting, Nothing !!!
Francesco, Naples, Italy

Looks like southern Italy is the last to come back on line. We've spent the whole day without power and it's just come back on at 1700(Local time). At least we can have showers now!. Spent the whole day talking to each other and playing games with the kids - what a novelty!!
Craig Brooke, Naples, Italy

Luckily it happened during the night causing just minimal disadvantages Claudio Morelli, Italy

Once again the story repeats itself! After what happened in U.S.A., London and Denmark now it's our turn. Luckily it happened during the night causing just minimal disadvantages...but let's think about what it could've been during peak hours of a normal working day. In Milan, power was restored at about 6.10 a.m. but in other places of Italy there's still shortage and absence of electricity. If our living standards are totally dependent on energy, we must find a system to store it for emergencies like these.
Claudio Morelli, Italy

I discovered the black out this morning at 4.00 AM when I waked up because THREE store alarms were ringing at full force (I live in Brescia, Northern Italy). When I attempted to turn lights on, they failed. I wondered if anything had happened to my building, then I went on the terrace and I saw everything in the dark - no lights whatsoever in every direction I saw. The sky was wonderful, however. I wasn't scared, simply annoyed by those damned alarms.
Ciro Alessandro Sacco, Italy

Despite the official silence, it is more than evident that there must be a strong sabotage connection between the recent blackouts in Italy, Denmark, UK and US. It is way too coincidental that technical problems had arisen in all these countries' grids in such a short period of time; and the inability of the governments to give a satisfactory response to the causes of the blackouts is indeed another alarm sign. What is going on?
Alejandro Blanco, Colombia

It is 2PM here in the south of Rome and we are still without electricity. I am writing this note with my laptop connected to the Internet. All our frozen food is gone and I wonder what we are going to find in the food shops in the next few days. We get some news from local radios which we can listen to from a portable battery operated radio. The most difficult thing is to explain to our children that without electricity they can't play videogames or watch tv. No idea of when we are going to get electricity back.
Fabio Pagliarini, Italy

Fortunately I slept through this one, and since it was Sunday it didn't affect my day much. I wouldn't even be able tell when the power came back to Rome. In any case it doesn't hold a candle to the one in New York. I lived in NYC until a month ago, and during the blackout I spent 27 hrs without phone, money, candles, barely any food, nothing really...It was impossible to get in touch with anyone. So everyone seemed to sit around with strangers in the streets just to kill time.
Sudia, Italy

I would like to stress that something similar has never happened in Italy. The reason is not so difficult to be found. This is a clear consequence of liberalization of Italian electrical industry that was praised so much during 1999(decreto Bersani). When a company operates in the strategic area of services without competition the only objective it has is making profit with the minimum of costs. So the quality of service automatically decreases and the prices go up. A similar case it also happened in UK with the liberalization of public transport.
Roberto Petrella, Italy

Here in Trento (close to the Garda lake) we didn't lose power. Since they're saying that Sardegna was the only non-affected region, I wonder how accurate the news is.
Sergio, Italy

I live in a northern industrial town. Last night I lost my deep-frozen food but I found a fine starry sky and a candlelit meditation. Not so bad...
Mariagrazia, Italy

I woke up in the night because I heard some noises, but I went to the kitchen and I couldn't see anything. The window was open, I tried to close it and while doing that I touched a bat. I screamed...
Alessandro, Italy

Leave it to the BBC to get me the information I needed on this black-out, especially reading Italians' comments on it and the durations. No such luck with the American press. I received an e-mail from my daughter, who has been backpacking the last month in Europe, on Saturday stating she was in Ljubljana, Slovenia and leaving Sunday for Milan. I just wanted to know what would greet her once she got there considering the blackout - she was already pickpocketed in Amsterdam. Rick Black of Milan's comments helped ease a concerned mother.
Rebecca Rabatin, USA

I live in Milan at 0330 (0130 GMT) the power went, at 0530 (0300 GMT) the buzzer for the burglar alarm couldn't be ignored anymore, we switched it off checked outside to discover the whole city seemed to be blacked out, only a few car lights. We went back to bed, getting up at 0940 (0740 GMT) everything seems to be normal. After checking on the internet we discovered that the whole country was blacked out.
Richard Black, Italy

The blackout began at 0335 (0135 GMT) in Padova, Veneto and the power returned at 0950 (0750 GMT). Four hours no telephone - no television and no public lighting. No police service into street of the city - no public awareness.
Giuseppe Michieli, Italy

The massive power failures in the US, England, Italy, and Denmark are too similar and have happened too close together for me to consider this a coincidence.
Wendy, US

It is interesting to remember the Italian paper full of negative comments about the US blackout and how such a thing could 'never' happen in Italy. My family lives in Udine near Austria and we had soon power diverted from the Austrian grid.
Antonio, UK

I see very little comment on this bizarre sequence of extraordinary blackouts (US, UK, Denmark, Italy) which must, over the timescale it has occurred, be statistically extremely improbable. Terrorism was quickly and unequivocally denied by the authorities each time. Is it then merely coincidence that each of the affected European countries capitulated to US pressure over the Iraq war? It seems to me that the improbability of these unprecedented events happening one after another should trigger curiosity at the very least. If Spain goes black next week, we'll know. Or is it just that privatisation of supply has meant that profit-taking has become core, more important than reinvestment in infrastructure?
Julian Chilcott, Netherlands

I'm so happy we had a blackout! I live in Rome and I couldn't sleep until 0300 (0100 GMT) for the chaos in the streets during the so-called "White Night" of our Mayor, Walter Veltroni, who is looking for personal promotion on mass media. After the blackout all became quiet and silent and I've been sleeping very very well. Good night Veltroni!
Marcello Medilisano, Italia

I was sleeping, when I heard the alarms screaming. Everything was dark and silent. I kept on sleeping.
Alessandro, Italy

No problem during the night but was woken up at 0800 (0600 GMT) when the television, the lights and all the house alarms turned on at the same time. I thought my son was being a pest and flew out of bed to blast him about considerations on a Sunday morning but then realised he was still asleep...
Nicholas, Genoa, Italy.

Power cut? What power cut? I am drinking a cuppa made with my electric kettle and writing this note to you on my electric computer !
Peter, Italy

I make wine down here in Sicily - it's quite a large cantina - there are always blackouts, so we have a large generator and that's fairly normal for most Italian wineries. The electricity supply is poor quality and extremely expensive with indifferent service. I got up this morning, we are near the end of the vintage and no power, everything normal for Sicily, nothing exceptional at all for any third world country.
Brian Fletcher, Italy (Sicily)

The strange thing here is that we have been warned all summer about possible power cut, yet this is the first time it has happened here. Luckily it was in the middle of the night, and luckier we did not go down to Rome for the white nights!
Olivier, Modena, Italy

This is not a clear situation... My opinion on this dangerous electricity blackout is that power managing systems may have been affected by a software power worm.
Roberto, North-eastern Italy

It's a shame. In the late 1970's and early 1980's we banned nuclear power because of the left-wing parties. Now we have to buy electricity from other countries.
Alberto Moscato, Italy

According to the radio, France supplies only 20% of the power to us. If this is the case how could this bring the whole country to a standstill?!
Catherine, Parma, Italy