About 45,000 customers in Sydney’s eastern suburbs lost power at the peak of the city’s heatwave thanks to overgrown weeds.

Homes and businesses in suburbs including Double Bay, Edgecliff and Bondi Junction lost power at 11.26am, forcing shops to close, disrupting council services and leaving hospitals relying on backup generators for essential services.

The blackout was caused by overgrown weeds, believed to be shoulder-high in some places, that grew around the equipment in an electrical substation on the corner of Epping and Manning roads in Double Bay

These weeds came into contact with the 132-kilovolt power cable where it emerges from the ground to connect to the switching equipment in Double Bay.