Mass blackouts hit Balkans as region swelters

Major blackouts hit large swaths of the western Balkans on Friday as surging demand for electricity linked to a spike in temperatures across the region overwhelmed power networks.

Temperatures in Montenegro's capital Podgorica touched 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) on Friday afternoon, as the country's main power provider said electricity was out across most of the Adriatic nation.

Montenegro's Minister of Energy and Mining Sasa Mujovic told local media that the power outage issue was regional in nature and linked to the ongoing heat wave.

"There has been a sudden increase in consumption due to high temperatures," said Mujovic.

In nearby Croatia, large stretches of the country's coastline in the southern Dalmatia region were also without power, according to reports in local media.

"The cut in electricity supply in parts of Croatia was caused by an international disturbance that affected several countries," Croatia's national electricity company (HEP) said in a statement published by the state-run HRT broadcaster.

"HEP has put all its production capacities into full operation... to ensure the supply of electricity in Croatia as soon as possible."

In neighbouring Bosnia, the capital Sarajevo was also without electricity, according to an AFP reporter on the ground.

"The exact cause of the blackout is still unknown but we presume it involves the overloading of the interconnector," said Midheta Kurspahic, a spokesperson from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Electricity Company.

And in Albania, Ministry of Transport and Energy spokesman Florian Seriani confirmed the cut in supply was connected to regional outages.

Officials from across the region later confirmed that power was gradually being restored on Friday afternoon.

The director of the National Dispatch Centre of the Montenegrin Transmission System, Ranko Redzic, said that an investigation had been launched into the incident.

Human-caused climate change is heating up the planet at an alarming rate, sparking repeated intense heatwaves, the global scientific community agrees.

Extreme heat also raises reliance on energy-guzzling air conditioners.