Thousands of properties across London were left without electricity on the morning of 5 October 2026 after a fault on an underground cable triggered a major power cut affecting 32 postcodes. The outage, which began at around 10:30am, plunged office buildings, train stations and homes into darkness, with Liverpool Street station among the affected locations.
Fault and restoration timeline
UK Power Networks reported that the fault occurred on an underground cable, knocking thousands of customers off the grid. The operator estimated that repairs would be completed between midday and 1pm, with some customers expected to see power return sooner.
According to the electricity network operator, power has already been restored for some homes and businesses, with around 4,989 customers seeing services come back. However, thousands more were still without power at the time of the update.
Affected postcodes
UK Power Networks listed 32 London postcodes affected by the outage: E1 5, E1 6, E1 7, E2 0, E2 8, E2 9, E5 0, E8 1, E8 2, E8 3, E8 4, E9 5, E9 6, E9 7, EC2A 2, EC2A 3, EC2A 4, EC2M 3, EC2M 4, EC3A 7, IG3 8, N1 0, N1 1, N1 2, N1 3, N1 4, N1 5, N1 7, N1 8, N5 2, NW8 7 and W2 3.
Commuters at Liverpool Street station faced travel disruption as a result of the blackout. Power is estimated to be restored across the affected areas between midday and 1pm.
