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Experts investigating the largest power cut in recent European history<\/a>, which plunged cities in Spain and Portugal into darkness on Monday and left tens of thousands of people trapped on trains, have ruled out the possibility of a cyber-attack.<\/p>\n According to Spain\u2019s electricity operator, Red El\u00e9ctrica, Monday\u2019s blackout was not the result of a targeted attack.<\/p>\n Speaking on Tuesday morning, the operator\u2019s head of services, Eduardo Prieto, said preliminary investigations meant \u201cwe can rule out a cybersecurity incident\u201d.<\/p>\n Prieto added that there was nothing to suggest \u201cthere was any kind of intrusion into the Red El\u00e9ctrica control system\u201d.<\/p>\n He said two consecutive events, which took place at 12.32pm on Monday and then a second and a half later, pointed to a \u201cgeneration disconnection\u201d that had cut off the supply across the peninsula. While the system weathered the first event, it could not cope with the second. Prieto said the problem had originated in south-west Spain, which is where much of the country\u2019s solar energy is generated.<\/p>\n By Tuesday morning, all of Spain\u2019s electricity substations were up and running, and 99.95% of the country\u2019s power supply had been restored. Across the border in Portugal, the electricity operator REN said all substations were fully operational and the national network had been \u201cperfectly stabilised\u201d by 11.30pm on Monday.<\/p>\n Late on Monday night, after a day of rumour and wild conjecture, Spain\u2019s prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, said experts were working to restore full power and to find out what had caused the blackout.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something that has never happened before,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat prompted this sudden disappearance of the supply is something that the experts still haven\u2019t been able to determine. But they will \u2026 All potential causes are being analysed and no hypothesis or possibility is being ruled out.\u201d<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez said the power cut originated at 12.33pm on Monday, when, for five seconds, 15 gigawatts of the energy that was being produced \u2013 equivalent to 60% of all the energy that was being used \u2013 suddenly disappeared.<\/p>\n Related: <\/span>\u2018People were stunned\u2019: how massive blackout unfolded across Spain and Portugal<\/a><\/p>\n The prime minister, who chaired another meeting of the national security council on Tuesday morning, thanked people for \u201conce again showing exemplary responsibility and public spirit\u201d.<\/p>\n In a statement early on Tuesday, Spain\u2019s national meteorological office, Aemet, appeared to rule out the weather as a possible culprit.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the day of 28 April, no unusual meteorological or atmospheric phenomena were detected, and nor were there sudden variations in the temperature in our network of meteorological stations,\u201d said Aemet.<\/p>\n REN also said it had not sent a message circulating on social media on Monday attributing the blackout to a rare atmospheric event.<\/p>\n The message, in Portuguese, claimed the shutdown was due to \u201ca fault in the Spanish electricity grid linked to a rare atmospheric phenomenon\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cREN confirms we did not put out this statement,\u201d a spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.<\/p>\n All of Spain\u2019s airports were operating on Tuesday morning, but the transport ministry advised people to check with their airlines for possible changes and to find out whether they would be able to get to the airport on public transport.<\/p>\n The state rail operator, Renfe, said the country\u2019s train network, which was badly hit by the blackout, was gradually returning to normal but that local train services were suspended in regions including Murcia, Extremadura and Andaluc\u00eda.<\/p>\n About 35,000 people were rescued from more than 100 trains after the cut hit on Monday.<\/p>\n In Madrid, 150,000 people were escorted to safety from the capital\u2019s metro system after trains stopped dead in stations and tunnels. By Tuesday morning, the city\u2019s metro service had been restored on all but one line, and 80% of trains were in operation for rush hour.<\/p>\n At 11am local time (1000 BST), the president of the Madrid region, Isabel D\u00edaz Ayuso, said the metro system was 100% operational, adding: \u201cAll schools are open, as are hospitals, health centres, day centres and care centres. Thanks to everyone who\u2019s made this possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The Catalan regional government said local train services were still being affected by the outage but the underground and bus networks were operating normally.<\/p>\n Widespread outages are unusual in Europe. In 2003, a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland caused blackouts for about 12 hours, and in 2006<\/a> an overloaded power network in Germany caused electricity cuts across parts of the country and in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n By 10am, shops in Madrid had reopened and many people were heading to ATMs to withdraw the cash they had been unable to access the previous day.<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s busiest railway station, Madrid Atocha, had turned into an impromptu campsite overnight, with frustrated travellers bedding down on cardboard and items of clothing as they waited for news.<\/p>\n