Supermarkets in Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland and Estonia had problems with freezers and fridges on Monday.

The problems were apparently caused by cyberattacks.

Some stores had to throw away ruined food.

The incidents follow a case last month in France.

There, attackers remotely took control of refrigeration systems in hundreds of supermarkets and independent stores.

They sent temperatures soaring.

Gustaf Nilsson is a spokesperson for Sweden's ICA Group.

He told the TT news agency that "a limited number" of stores were affected overnight.

He declined to give a specific number.

An ICA Kvantum store in Sjöbo, southern Sweden, said its fridges and freezers had been hacked.

They were set to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).

It said staff were discarding affected products.

TT reported that six Coop stores in central Sweden also had problems.

The chain had no immediate details.

The Delhaize chain said an "IT incident" had affected refrigeration systems in several dozen stores.

These were mostly in Belgium and a few in Luxembourg.

Spokesperson Sarah De Meester said fresh and frozen ranges were temporarily limited.

But distribution centers were operating normally.

Carrefour said an attack affected 15 of its more than 700 Belgian stores.

It called the impact "extremely limited."

In Estonia, Kitman Coldtech said attackers accessed a computer controlling a client's refrigeration system.

They raised the temperature to 50 degrees Celsius, public broadcaster ERR reported.

Chief executive Jann Mutso declined to name the store.

But he said the attack was fixed within minutes.

The Selver chain said one of its outlets was affected.

In Ireland, Musgrave Group said 13 SuperValu stores were affected.

Chilled and frozen products were removed from sale as a precaution.

It said the incident was fully resolved by Monday afternoon.