Malta suffered a second total power outage in less than a month on Monday, with all homes, shops and factories being left without electricity and chaos at peak hours due to traffic lights failing.

The state-owned company Enemalta has confirmed the widespread failure, caused, it seems, by a problem with the submarine cable that provides Malta with electricity from Sicily.

The power failure started shortly after local time 08:00 (07:00 GMT), and the supply began to be partially resumed after local time 11:00, according to ProTv news.

Another recent power outage, produced on November 26, was also caused by a malfunction of the submarine cable.

The electrical installations on the island can generate enough electricity to cover the demand, but Enemalta relies largely on the energy supplied from Sicily because it is cheaper.