In its statement, the corporation failed to say why the fault had occurred but sources said that the demand was too much for the distribution centre to handle.

Due to repairs that were required to be carried out to the distribution system, the electricity service in parts of St Julian’s, Paceville, Rabat and Dingli had to remain suspended until later in the evening.

The highest peak load ever recorded in Malta and Gozo was 354 megawatts, reached in January 2000. Meanwhile, the temperature yesterday reached 32 degrees Celsius. The humidity yesterday varied between 57 per cent at noon and 70 per cent later on in the afternoon. Meteorological experts yesterday said the temperature and humidity levels during the next three days will remain similar to those yesterday. On Saturday, the temperature is expected to reach 37 degrees.