Thousands Plunged into Darkness Across Teesside & County Durham in Major Power Outage

Most homes across Teesside & County Durham seen power restored around 1am this morning, however there's still sporadic reports of some homes still without power...

21st June 2025

Thousands of homes across Teesside and County Durham were left without power last night in one of the largest blackouts seen in recent years, with Hartlepool amongst the worst said to have been affected.

At around 11pm, it claimed large parts of Hartlepool were plunged into darkness. Residents reported being woken by home alarms blaring, streetlights out, traffic signals dead, and mobile phone services disrupted across the town. Some users claimed they had no mobile signal or data at all during the height of the outage.

The cause of the power cut remains unconfirmed, however some have pointed fingers at the recent spell of unusually hot weather, suggesting it may have placed increased strain on the national grid, triggering the widespread outage.

The blackout stretched beyond Hartlepool, also reportedly affecting nearby communities across County Durham, including Peterlee, Blackhall, and the surrounding colliery villages. Parts of Teesside, such as Greatham and Billingham, were also said to have been knocked off supply for a short period.

Northern Powergrid were reportedly inundated with reports of homes off supply

In Hartlepool, the power was said to have been out for nearly three hours in some areas, with the majority of homes seeing their electricity restored by around 1am. However, the disruption was enough to cause significant concern across the town, particularly for vulnerable residents.

As of the time of publication, Northern Powergrid had not responded to requests for comment,