The current spate of power cuts has not spared the law courts.

While an initial morning blackout was quickly resolved when backup generators kicked in, a second afternoon outage during the lunch break left the building without power after the backup system failed to start.

It remains uncertain whether court proceedings in the trial by jury of Yorgen Fenech will resume as scheduled in the afternoon.

During the morning, the trial was suspended for one hour midway through the session.

Malta has been hit by several power cuts in the last days as a heatwave envelopes the islands. Several localities have been without power for long hours.