Cable fault cuts power to large part of London, 32 postcodes hit

A power cut hit a large part of London on Monday morning, affecting about 32 postcodes across the east and centre of the city, UK Power Networks (UKPN) said. The outage, which began around 10.30am, was caused by a fault on an underground electricity cable, the network operator said. Full power was restored to all affected postcodes by around 12.09pm, UKPN said, ahead of its earlier estimate of between midday and 1pm.

The affected postcodes included E1, E2, E5, E8, E9, EC2A, EC2M, EC3A, N1, N5, NW8 and W2, as well as IG3 in east London, UKPN said. Offices in the City of London were plunged into darkness, with lifts, Wi-Fi and computer systems losing power, the Evening Standard reported.

Liverpool Street station, the busiest railway station in the UK, had blank departure boards during the outage, though rail and bus services continued running, Transport for London said. Train operator Great Northern said the power cut affected platform lighting at Essex Road, meaning services did not stop there during the disruption. TfL said the outage also affected some traffic signals and CCTV cameras in the area.

UKPN engineers restored power to 4,989 customers in the E8 postcode and surrounding areas by around 11.32am, by diverting electricity around the fault. Thousands of other customers remained without power for longer, and UKPN asked anyone still affected to call its customer line, saying staff were working around the clock to reconnect the rest of the network before full restoration by lunchtime.

A pharmacy on Essex Road said the outage had stopped staff processing the next day's prescription orders on its computer system, meaning some patients would not be able to collect their medication as normal, an employee told the Evening Standard. A worker in an office building near Moorgate said the power cut left the building without lighting, televisions or Wi-Fi, and that nearby traffic lights had also stopped working.