One topic is dominating the agenda in Malta this week as high temperatures trigger power cuts, leaving thousands of residents, businesses and tourists in the lurch. 

The central localities were among the worst hit though many remain without power while others fear another nightmare night without the facility of cooling systems.

Times of Malta spoke to pedestrians on the streets of Mosta and Naxxar, asking how the wide-ranging power cuts impacted them. 

Sharon Briffa, a Mosta resident, said she had to throw away €75 worth of food after a power cut left her home without electricity for 19 hours. 

"The ice in the freezer thawed, and we had to throw away all the pizzas, meat, and everything else," the 53-year-old said. 

Briffa's home in Constitution Street, Mosta was without power between Monday 8pm and Tuesday 3pm. 

"Our dogs were panting constantly out of breath, and we were on the balcony and terrace, barely able to breathe," Briffa said.  

To beat the heat, one Naxxar resident, Stella Baluci, slept in the coolest place she could find in her home: the floor. 

"It's just really hot," she said, while holding a frozen yoghurt and wearing a 'neck fan'. 

Saviour Cachia, who lives in Tarġa Gap, Mosta, spent 12 hours without power on Tuesday. 

"I stayed home hoping for the power to return before falling asleep in the heat at 3am," the pensioner said. 

On Wednesday evening, 75-year-old Dorothy Farrugia spent hours on her balcony in her St Paul's Bay home fanning herself and waiting for the power to return.

"All these power cuts are not right; if we have a low-voltage, the government should increase it," she said.

"The day before, some four other places had no power... Let's hope it won't be our turn again," she said.

Power cuts particularly impacted older people, Farrugia said.

"We spend much of our free time watching television," she said. 

Tourists staying in St Paul's Bay also had no power in their hotels on Wednesday evening. 

"It was kind of a pain because we couldn't check in, pay, or use the lift," Sara Castro from Spain said. 

"We had to walk to find a restaurant because everything in the block was affected," she said. 

Nula McKenna and her UK school group were eating dinner in their St Paul's Bay hotel when the lights went out. 

"Luckily, the hotel was brilliant; they let the students back into the pool to cool down. They even gave our students free ice cream," McKenna said.  

Sean and Ben Spiteri said their Naxxar home has been experiencing constant power cuts since Monday. 

"If you want to cook, you can't do that unless you have a barbecue."

Despite not having been directly affected by the power cut himself, John Magro from Iklin did not mince his words.

"Everyone here is complaining, and rightly so; you don't expect this in a civilised European country".

Lino Degiorgio said he only spent some 30 minutes without electricity, fanning himself with a hand fan.

But he wasn't too concerned with the week's spate of power cuts. 

"Power cuts have always happened. I'm not complaining; what can you do," he said.

Malta hit a new peak electricity demand of 624 megawatts but Enemalta said the power cuts were not caused by overloading. Instead, consistently high temperatures damaged distribution equipment, particularly cables, the country's energy provider said.