Ministry of Power said it would take several more hours to restore power supply in the country.

It added that measure were underway to restore power supply and apologized to the public over the inconvenience caused by the island wide electricity breakdown.

Meanwhile, CEB sources said they were working to restore power supply before 8 PM today.

Water supply in many areas was also affected due to the power failure. Heavy traffic reported in many areas in Colombo as traffic lights ceased to function due to the power breakdown.