2003 London blackout
| Location | South London & north-west Kent, UK. |
|---|---|
| Type | Power outage |
| Outcome | 476,000 customers affected |
The 2003 London blackout was a serious power outage that affected parts of south London and north-west Kent in the evening of 28 August 2003. It was caused by a series of faults at National Grid transmission substations, which supplied the distribution network operator in the area, EDF Energy (now UK Power Networks).
It was the largest blackout in South East England since the Great Storm of 1987, affecting 476,000 customers. Power was lost at 18:20 BST and restored to EDF Energy 37 minutes later at 18:57, although it reportedly took longer for all customers to be reconnected.: 18
A week later, on 5 September, a similar incident affected a substantial part of Birmingham.