Heathrow Airport closed latest: Heathrow hopes to run full operation on Saturday as it starts moving aircraft

More now from British Airways, which has just announced it has clearance for eight long-haul flights to leave Heathrow this evening.
It says it is “urgently contacting customers to let them know so they can make their way to the airport” from 17:00 GMT.
BA says the only customers who should make their way to the airport are those booked onto the following flights:

BA055 to Johannesburg
BA057 to Johannesburg
BA011 to Singapore
BA259 to Riyadh
BA045 to Cape Town
BA059 to Cape Town
BA015 to Sydney via Singapore
BA249 to Buenos Aires via Rio de Janeiro

British Airways has been given clearance for eight long-haul flights to depart Heathrow Airport today from 19:00 GMT, the airline says in a statement.
We’ll bring you more from the update shortly.
Jonathan Josephs
Business reporter
Image source, Getty
Image caption,
Turkish Airlines is swapping in bigger planes to help more passengers reach their destinations
Airlines are adjusting their schedules to help passengers reach their destinations after Heathrow’s closure.
One approach is something they call “regauging” – swapping smaller planes for bigger ones where possible.
For example, instead of using an A320 for flights from Istanbul to London Gatwick, Turkish Airlines is using A330s, which can carry more passengers.
Other airlines are making similar moves.
One challenge they might face is whether airports can handle the extra passengers.
More travellers mean more suitcases, which means more baggage handlers are needed to process the extra load.
By Rob England, Wesley Stephenson and Krystina Shveda
More than 1,300 flights have been disrupted by the closure of Heathrow Airport today, according to the air traffic website flightradar24.com.
As of 14:30, it says:

1,149 flights have been cancelled
119 have been diverted
35 are still showing as “scheduled”
14 are still being given estimated arrival times
1 is showing as delayed

For those diverted, Amsterdam and Gatwick airports are the most common destinations so far.
Just under half of the flights affected belong to British Airways, according to the data.
Virgin Atlantic is the next most affected, with 68 flights, followed by Lufthansa.
The website says the live figures are gathered using multiple sources and are subject to change throughout the day.
We’ve just received a fuller statement from Heathrow Airport, which says it can restart some flights later today and hopes to be fully operational tomorrow:
“Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery. We’re pleased to say we’re now safely able to begin some flights later today.
“Our first flights will be repatriation flights and relocating aircraft. Please do not travel to the airport unless your airline has advised you to do so.
“We will now work with the airlines on repatriating the passengers who were diverted to other airports in Europe. We hope to run a full operation tomorrow and will provide further information shortly.
“Our priority remains the safety of our passengers and those working at the airport. As the busiest airport in Europe, Heathrow uses as much energy as a small city, therefore getting back to a full and safe operation takes time. We apologise for the inconvenience caused by this incident.”
We can bring you more now from the latest update from Heathrow Airport.
It says it hopes to “run a full operation tomorrow and will provide further information shortly”, having just announced it is now safely able to “restart” flights.
It says its teams have worked “tirelessly since the incident to ensure a speedy recovery”.
It also urges passengers not to travel to the airport unless the airline has advised them to do so.
Heathrow Airport says it’s now “safely able to restart flights”.
In a statement shared on X, it says it will prioritise “repatriation and relocation of aircraft”.
We’ll bring you more from its update shortly.
Image source, Getty Images
British Airways has announced a short while ago it has cancelled all its short-haul flights to and from Heathrow today.
Now most of its long-haul flights have also been cancelled, according to chairman and CEO Sean Doyle.
“We hope that power will be restored as soon as possible. But even when that does happen, this incident will have a substantial impact on our airline and customers for many days to come, with disruption to journeys expected over the coming days,” he says.
Doyle adds that unexpected diversions mean some planes and crew are now in locations they weren’t meant to be. And because crew can only work a set number of hours, the airline faces the challenge of getting new teams to operate those flights, he says.
Ruth Cadbury, who chairs the Transport Select Committee, says there are questions about Heathrow Airport’s resilience that need answering.
Cadbury, who represents Brentford near Heathrow, hopes we’ll learn more about the cause of the fire later today.
She tells BBC News: “The concern is it was dependent on one substation for its power, and that does raise questions about infrastructure resilience.”
She also wonders if grid capacity played a role.
“Here in west London, we do have an issue about the overall grid capacity challenge in the boroughs of Hounslow, Hillingdon and Ealing, because the data centres are huge users of electricity but I think it is a question for Heathrow Airport, about whether they had previously considered this resilience concern themselves.”
She says the select committee will, in time, hold a session with key figures to examine what happened.
Rich Preston
News correspondent
We’ve been hearing the phrase “Critical National Infrastructure” a lot.
So what is it?
The UK’s National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) defines it as “facilities, systems, sites, information, people, networks and processes, necessary for a country to function and upon which daily life depends”.
The NPSA is the government agency responsible for reducing the vulnerability of national infrastructure. It’s part of the Security Service, better known as MI5.
The UK’s national security strategy, known as the Integrated Review, highlights the need to keep these sites running smoothly and safely.
Usually, we think about that in terms of preventing terror attacks or cyber threats. But today’s chaos has been caused by a single fire at one power station.
Whether that was deliberate or not, we don’t yet know. But there are serious questions about why better resilience wasn’t in place to protect such a vital part of British infrastructure.
Image source, Getty Images
Here’s the latest as disruption continues for passengers travelling to and from Europe’s busiest airport:
What we know
What we don’t know

When Heathrow will reopen
How much of a knock-on effect the disruption will have on flights after today
What exactly caused the fire – counter-terrorism officers are investigating, but the Met Police says there’s currently no sign of foul play

British Airways says it has cancelled all short-haul flights to and from Heathrow today.
“Our teams are currently working hard to review our long-haul schedule,” the airline says, as well as looking into the implications “for our schedule for tomorrow and beyond”.
Travel journalist Simon Calder says even if power is restored, tomorrow will still be “far from a normal day” for the airport.
Ongoing issues could mean disruption “stretch into next week”, he says.
“Ultimately it’s extremely damaging to the UK economically, reputationally and so much distress to people,” he says. “All those people have been let down.”
James Kelly
BBC News
Image source, Maz Cooper
Psychology student Maz Cooper, 18, from Hampshire, was meant to go on a college trip to Poland today.
She says it’s ridiculous that a substation fire could shut down such a large airport.
“It was a psychology trip to go to Auschwitz as its main aim,” Maz says.
“We came to college this morning completely unsure if we’d be going, waiting until 12 when our teachers unfortunately broke the news that we couldn’t go.
“I want to emphasise the stress and panic the teachers organising this had to go through due to the lack of resilience from Heathrow Airport, let alone the students who were left in limbo until it was confirmed the trip was cancelled.
“I understand this is a complicated situation, but the fact that there’s no back-up plan for problems like this is, frankly, ridiculous.”
It’s been more than 14 hours since the fire started, and there’s still smoke coming from the substation.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
The National Grid says it has found “an interim solution” to restore power to customers, including Heathrow Airport.
In its latest update, it says it has reconfigured the network from North Hyde substation, allowing all affected customers to be reconnected. This includes the ability to resupply parts of Heathrow Airport linked to the substation.
The National Grid stresses that this is only a temporary fix.
An update from PA news agency reporters at Heathrow.
They say power seems to be back on at Terminal 4.
The lights are on in the main building, and the lifts in the multi-storey car park are working again, they add.
Your Voice, Your BBC News
James Kelly
Image source, EPA
Jake Baines from Portsmouth was meant to meet a woman he’d befriended online for the first time today.
But her flight from Chicago was cancelled, turning their plans for a “fun-filled week” into a “total nightmare”.
Jake only found out about the cancellation while travelling by coach to London.
He’s now in a Premier Inn near the airport, where he says the power is out.
All is not lost, though. He tells the BBC his pen pal’s trip has just been delayed until the weekend.
“It will still be memorable… albeit for the wrong reasons!”
Asya Robins
Live reporter
Harbans Kaur Johal, 81, was flying back to Heathrow after visiting her brother in India when her flight was diverted to Munich Airport this morning.
She speaks no German and very little English and was “a bit panicked and flustered”, and had wandered around the airport alone for some time, unsure where to go, her son Ajai Johal says.
Ajai says he was “really angry” at British Airways for losing her, calling the situation “outrageous”.
He and his wife Jas made several phone calls to British Airways staff and passengers on the same flight who were trying to help.
Thanks to “kind-hearted” people who offered her a place to stay, Harbans is now at a hotel near the airport, waiting to find out when she can travel.
Ajai and Jas think airlines should assume some passengers don’t speak English and have policies to support them in situations like this.
Ben King
Business reporter
Heathrow has strong resilience and response plans and is well prepared, says a consultant who has worked on airport resilience in the UK.
When the airport identifies possible vulnerabilities, the consultant, speaking anonymously to protect working relationships, says it spends a lot of money to fix them.
“I would not assume that there is a technical deficiency in the plans at Heathrow,” he says.
But with a system as complex as a modern airport, he says it’s impossible to prevent incidents altogether.

Page 2

Image source, PA Media
Eurostar says it is adding more seats on its trains between London and Paris to help airline passengers affected by Heathrow’s closure.
It will run two extra services in each direction on Friday, with space for around 882 passengers per train.
Passengers are advised to check the website or app for booking details, Eurostar says.
Your Voice, Your BBC News
Thomas Copeland
Image source, BBC/Adam Boggon
Adam Boggon from Culross is heading back to Scotland for a friend’s wedding after trip to the US.
He’s been waiting at Boston Logan Airport since early this morning, hoping to find out when he can fly home.
He says about half a dozen British Airways staff are there, trying to reroute passengers.
“A man from British Airways has set me up with something through New York tonight which might get me to Loch Lomond in time for the reception.
“Will have to see how it goes,” he says.
Harry Farley
Political correspondent
Image source, Reuters
The prime minister’s spokesman says “there are questions to answer” over how a fire knocked out Heathrow.
No 10 says “we expect those questions to be answered” but the priority is bringing the fire under control, adding it was too early to speculate on whether foul play was involved.
Downing Street could not say if it was confident the airport would reopen at midnight as planned, adding the prime minister is being kept updated.
“It’s clearly a fast-moving situation,” the spokesman says, adding it “wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect checks on resilience” are being carried out at other major airports.
The Cabinet Office is leading the government response. A multi-agency call was held earlier involving officials from the transport department, the energy department, National Grid, the Civil Aviation Authority, the National Air Traffic Services, and emergency services.
Image source, BBC News
While some Heathrow-bound flights have been diverted, others have had to turn back mid-flight.
Adam Brown is back in Washington DC after his flight got halfway across the Atlantic before making a U-turn.
He tells the BBC there wasn’t much support after landing – it was a fend-for-yourself situation, he says.
Image source, Getty Images
Here’s what you need to know this lunchtime:

Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s busiest, is closed all day after a fire broke out at an electrical substation in Hayes, west London, last night
Nearby residents were evacuated. One told the BBC: “Suddenly there was this huge bang and the house just shook”
Counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation, but the Met Police says there’s “currently no indication of foul play”
In an update at 11:00 GMT, London Fire Brigade said the fire was still burning and power remained out in Terminals 2 and 4
Heathrow has warned of days of disruption, with more than 1,350 flights affected today. Nearby pubs and hotels are crowded with stranded passengers
Some flights have been diverted to cities including Glasgow, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, New York JFK and Paris

We’ve also outlined in a post what to do if your flight has been cancelled.
Stick with us as we bring you the latest.
Tom Espiner
Business reporter
Image source, PA Media
A source at Heathrow says the airport has back-up systems to deal with situations like an aircraft in distress, but not for the entire airport.
Heathrow has interconnected systems, including IT, heating and lighting. Some have back-ups, but others are still offline, the source says.
Jonathan Josephs
Business reporter
Image source, Reuters
Delta Air Lines says it’s cancelled 10 flights from London Heathrow today.
Four planes were already on their way when they were alerted to the closure. One returned to Minneapolis–Saint Paul, while three were diverted to Amsterdam. Passengers on those flights have been offered a Eurostar train to London or a connection to their final destination.
Meanwhile, United Airlines has cancelled all 17 flights it normally operates from Heathrow each day.
It says seven flights had to return to their origin or divert to other airports. Passengers are being offered alternative options to reach their destinations.
Simon Jack
Business editor
Image source, PA Media
A National Grid source tells the BBC that power should be back on “in hours” at Heathrow airport, but it’s too soon to say exactly when.
As we just reported, the airport has multiple sources of power. National Grid says the Hayes substation “was a particularly important bit”.
National Grid source says the organisation accepts that there were important questions to ask around resilience, but their current efforts were being directed to restoring power as soon as possible.
Mark Broad
Business editor
A Heathrow source tells the BBC that they have “multiple sources” of energy at the airport – with diesel generators and “uninterruptable power supplies” in place.
The source says that when the power outage happened the back up systems “all operated as expected”.
The systems, however, are not enough to run the whole airport – hence the decision to close it down.
The source says the airport is in the process of redirecting power to the affected parts of the operation – but that it “takes time”.
Image source, EPA
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander says she’s spoken to Heathrow Airport’s chief executive and is “reassured they’re working tirelessly to reopen” as soon as possible.
She thanks emergency services for their response and urges passengers not to travel until told otherwise.
We’ve also heard from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who says electricity suppliers are working hard to restore power in the area.
“I know this will be hugely frustrating for the many thousands expecting to travel to and from Heathrow today, the families who have had their power cut and the commuters who have had their journeys disrupted,” he says.
Your Voice, Your BBC News
Some of you have been asking if counter-terrorism police investigating the fire means it was an act of sabotage.
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford says the fire has caused “extraordinary damage” to a key part of the UK’s national infrastructure, which is “something that a hostile state or a terrorist group would like to cause”.
“We need to be asking the question: has that been caused by a hostile state or a terrorist group?” he says, adding that there is “no evidence at this stage that that is the case”.
Counter-terrorism police will be checking if any device or initiator started the fire, as they specialise in investigating explosions and fires, Daniel Sandford says.
“There is no suggestion at the moment of sabotage or foul play, but everybody agrees they need to be asking the question just in case,” he says.
We’re answering your questions on the Heathrow shutdown as part of our Your Voice, Your BBC News project.
Audience member Paul asks how there can be a single point of failure to the electricity supply to Heathrow Airport, which is such a key part of the UK’s infrastructure.
A Heathrow source has told the BBC the airport does have back-up systems to cope, for example, with an aircraft in distress, but it doesn’t have a back-up system for the whole airport.
BBC home affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford says the possibility of alternative, comprehensive back-up power supply will be a key question once the dust has settled.
He also poses the question as to whether other parts of the UK’s national infrastructure have the same issue.
Paul Ward
Journalist, BBC Scotland
Image caption,
Vanessa and Simon were diverted from Heathrow to Glasgow – but have a wedding tomorrow
A flight from New Orleans heading to Heathrow was diverted and touched down at Glasgow around 10:30 GMT. Passengers said they were told about an hour before landing that it had to divert.
For some, there was a scramble to rearrange travel.
Vanessa Connell and partner Simon spent almost £1,000 on flights from Glasgow to Gatwick.
She says: “We have a wedding tomorrow so we have to get back. We’ll hold on to the receipts.”
For others, the diversion made their onward journey easier.
Allan Strachan lives in Edinburgh so was pleased to be landing in Glasgow.
“It’s good for me but I feel sorry for all the people that have to rush to sort things out,” he says.
Wesley Stephenson
BBC News data journalist
The closure of Heathrow Airport has impacted travel across the globe, with many flights due to land in London being diverted to other airports.
As you can see in this chart based on FlightRadar data, Amsterdam tops the list with seven flights diverted to its airport. That’s followed by Frankfurt, Washington, London Gatwick, Shannon and Paris with six flights diverted to each airport. New York’s JFK, Madrid, Manchester and Glasgow have each taken in five diverted flights.
Rich Preston
Reporting from Heathrow
Image source, Reuters
The ripple effects of today’s closure of Heathrow airport will be felt far and wide – and for several days to come.
Hotels and pubs around the airport have crowds of people sitting in their lobbies and at tables, surrounded by their luggage and looking despondently at their phones, desperate for any kind of good news.
I’ve spoken to groups who were supposed to be going on holiday, to weddings, to business meetings.
Some are trying to get home to see family, or are on the last leg of a big trip. Heathrow was the airport with the most international connections in the world in 2024, according to industry travel data provider OAG, so many of these people won’t have even been visiting the UK but are merely passing through as they travel between Asia, Europe, and America.
But as well as people passengers, it’s important to remember cargo.
Heathrow is a major cargo hub – last year it served 234 destinations handling more than £190bn worth of goods. In 2023, 48% of all UK air cargo travelled through Heathrow, according to the airport itself – handling everything from medicines, fresh fruit and veg, books, tech items, fresh flowers – and even live animals.
Even when the airport does get its power back, it will take days before any semblance of normality is resumed with a huge backlog of both goods and people waiting their turn to get through Heathrow.
Heathrow Airport is going to be closed all day because of a fire at an electricity substation which caused a power cut – and travellers are being warned there’ll be significant disruption over the next few days.
Here’s what you need to know:
Media caption,
The BBC’s Charlotte Gallagher reports from Heathrow Airport, which is closed today
As we continue to update you with the latest developments on Heathrow Airport’s closure due to a nearby substation fire, we’ve lined up several experts to answer your questions on what has been called an “unprecedented event”.
You can follow along from 12:30 by pressing Watch live at the top of the page.
As a reminder, you can get in touch with us via Your Voice, Your BBC News.
Daniel Sandford
Home Affairs correspondent
The impact of the electricity substation fire near Heathrow has had a devastating impact on a key part of our national infrastructure – the kind of impact that terrorist groups and hostile states would like to have.
At the moment it looks like a fault, but what if it was deliberately started? That question needs to be ruled out urgently.
That is why counter-terrorism detectives are leading the investigation into the cause of the fire. They have specialist forensic skills and can look for any evidence of an explosion or other deliberate act.
Also if at any stage foul play is suspected counter-terrorism detectives will want to have been involved from the start.
If foul play remains ruled out, there is another urgent question: How many other key parts of our national infrastructure do not have a backup electricity supply?
Jonathan Josephs
BBC business reporter
The International Air Transport Association (Iata), says today’s closure of London Heathrow is “yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines”.
The director general of the airline trade body Willie Walsh – a former pilot and CEO of British Airway’s parent company IAG – says “it begs some serious questions” about how an internationally important piece of infrastructure can be totally dependent on a single power source.
In a statement he also suggests it is unfair that his members, which are 340 airlines that account for over 80% of global air traffic, will have to pick up the bill for taking care of passengers for an event that is not their fault.
He says that without finding a “fairer allocation of passenger care costs”, Heathrow has “very little incentive to improve”.
Marta Newman
BBC News at One producer
Image source, EPA
Image caption,
More than 200,000 passengers travel through Heathrow on an average day
As passengers wonder about their rights in regards to cancelled flights, I’ve just spoken to Graeme Buck, the Director of Communications at travel trade association ABTA.
He says that if a passenger’s flight is cancelled they must be offered the choice of a replacement journey, or a refund.
“That flight should be as soon as possible,” he explains. “If you find you have to stay overnight somewhere or you incur extra costs travelling to different airports to get back to Heathrow then you should be compensated for that as well.”
If you’ve booked a package holiday, you may also have additional rights under the package holiday travel regulations, he adds.

Page 3

Tom Edwards
BBC London Transport Correspondent, reporting from Heathrow airport
Image source, Getty Images
A line of trolleys blocks anyone from getting into the terminals at Heathrow Airport, while there are lots of staff around and a handful of passengers looking at their phones wondering what to do.
I’m inside Heathrow airport, not far from Terminal 3, and it’s absolutely deserted as the terminals are locked down.
One couple I met was due to fly to Vietnam and they have had to head home. Another was furious at the lack of information.
This will be an absolute calamity for a lot of passengers and there are bound to be questions about the airport’s resilience, and how a fire at a substation can effectively knock out one of the world’s busiest airports.
Sources from within aviation have expressed their anger at what has happened. They want to know why there was no back up.
They say Heathrow is an international “laughing stock” and the lack of preparedness is “shocking”.
There is no indication the fire was caused by foul play, the Met Police says in a statement, but adds it is keeping an open mind at this time.
A spokesperson for the force says: “We are working with the London Fire Brigade to establish the cause of the fire which remains under investigation. While there is currently no indication of foul play we retain an open mind at this time.
“Given the location of the substation and the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure, the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is now leading enquiries.
“This is due to the specialist resources and capabilities within that command that can assist in progressing this investigation at pace to minimise disruption and identify the cause.”
Danny Aeberhard
Europe regional editor, BBC World Service
So far, the level of knock-on disruption to other European airports, caused by the closure of Heathrow, has been relatively limited.
Apart from cancellations of scheduled flights to and from Heathrow itself, some European airports have seen Heathrow-bound flights diverted. They include the following:

Five such services landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, one of the busiest hubs in Europe after Heathrow. Two had come from Singapore – a Qantas and a Singapore Airlines flight. The others were a Qantas flight from Perth in Australia, an Emirates one from Dubai and a RwandAir one from Kigali
Seven flights have had to be diverted to Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. They are Delta flights from Detroit, Boston, and Atlanta in the US, two Cathay Pacific flights from Hong Kong, a British Airways flight from Riyadh, and a Malaysia Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur
Frankfurt has seen six diverted planes land. These were a Singapore Airlines service from Singapore, an Air India flight from Delhi, a Gulf Air flight from Bahrain, an Etihad flight from Abu Dhabi and two services from Doha – one a Qatar Airways service, and the other a British Airways one

Meanwhile, Europe’s most westerly international airport, Shannon in Ireland, has seen six diverted transatlantic flights land. They are flights from Atlanta, Boston, Orlando and Newark in the US, Toronto in Canada and one from the capital of Barbados, Bridgetown.
Image source, Getty Images
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has just posted an update on social media about the fire at the substation near Heathrow Airport.
“I know the situation in Heathrow is causing distress and disruption, especially for those travelling or without power in their homes,” he says.
“I’m receiving regular updates and I’m in close contact with partners on the ground. Thanks to our emergency workers for keeping people safe.”
Tom Finn
Visual Journalism Team
At 08:00 UTC on a normal Friday, there would usually be about 200 flights in the air headed for Heathrow.
Here’s a snapshot of air traffic that was bound for Heathrow a week ago at 08:00 UTC on Friday, 14 March.
And here’s traffic at the same time this morning as flights were grounded or diverted to other airports.
Why is Heathrow closed?
A fire at the North Hyde electrical substation in Hayes, west London, knocked out the power supply to Heathrow and other businesses and homes in the surrounding area.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, but emergency services were first called to the scene at 23:23 GMT on Thursday.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC the fire appeared to have knocked out a backup generator as well.
How long will the airport be closed?
Heathrow has said it doesn’t “have clarity on when power may be reliably restored”, and that it will be closed until 23:59 tonight.
“We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available,” it says, also warning that travellers can expect “significant disruption over the coming days”.
Are Gatwick flights cancelled?
No, London Gatwick says it is operating as normal – but some flights originally bound for Heathrow have been diverted to Gatwick.
Our experts will be answering more of your questions at 12:30 GMT live in this page, and you can also get in touch with us here.
Daniel Sandford
Home Affairs correspondent
The BBC understands that counter-terrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police will be involved in the investigation into a fire at a electricity substation near Heathrow.
This is not because of any direct evidence of sabotage, but because of their skills and the need to quickly rule out foul play.
Their involvement was described by a source as “belt and braces” and a “precautionary measure”.
Jonathan Smith from the London Fire Brigade is asked about media reports that the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit is investigating the fire.
The Times reports, external that detectives are being deployed as a precautionary measure rather than an indication of foul play.
The BBC has contacted Met Police for comment.
Smith says the London Fire Brigade is unable to comment on the Met’s investigations. However, he says that the Met Police are investigating the nature of the fire with support from the fire brigade.
Smith goes on to say that 29 people from neighbouring properties were evacuated over the fire, adding that around 150 people in total were evacuated to a rest centre.
He says the fire brigade will continue to have a presence in the area throughout the day.
Fire safety and fire investigation officers are working with the Met Police to establish the nature of the fire, he adds.
There remains no power at Terminal 2 or Terminal 4 at Heathrow Airport, Smith says.
We’re now hearing from the London Fire Brigade, as deputy commissioner Jonathan Smith addresses reporters with an update on the fire at the electricity substation near Heathrow Airport.
The fire involved a transformer comprising 25,000 litres of cooling oil that was fully alight. 10% is still alight, he says.
Met Police declared it a major incident, he adds, saying that firefighters worked under challenging conditions.
Press watch live above to follow along. We’ll bring you more updates shortly.
Several schools in Hayes are closed today due to the fire at the North Hyde Electricity Substation, according to a statement from Hillingdon Council.
The schools that will be closed throughout the day are:

Nestles Avenue Early Years Centre
Pinkwell Children’s Centre
Pinkwell Primary School
Botwell House Catholic Primary School
Dr Triplett’s C of E Primary School
The Global Academy

Your Voice, Your BBC News
Perisha Kudhail
Alex Money from Oxford was due to land in London today.
Instead his flight was rediverted from Cape Town to Barcelona, where he has just stepped off the plane after being on the tarmac for over two hours.
“It’s my birthday today. Not how I imagined spending it”, he says
Despite the change of plans, Alex says the full flight still seemed “remarkably good humoured despite the situation.”
He’s now waiting at the terminal in Barcelona for his bags and hoping for the best.
While passengers have been left frustrated by cancelled flights, we’ve also been hearing from residents who had to evacuate their homes in Hayes as a result of the fire.
Katrina Clements tells BBC Radio London how she and her husband were asleep when they heard knocking at the door and were told to leave their home.
Once she’d left, Katrina says she saw “a lot of people on the road” who had some from nearby to look at the fire.
“We just want to go home,” she says.
Since evacuating, the Hayes resident adds that she’s had little communication from authorities, though she says the council have tried to source hotel rooms for the night.
As we’ve been reporting, at least 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow Airport could be cancelled today, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24.
No flights are landing at Heathrow and planes that are already on the way there are being diverted to other airports, or back to their origin.
The video below compares today’s air traffic in the vicinity of Heathrow to yesterday’s.
Media caption,
Flightradar24 shows no planes landing at Heathrow
As we’ve been reporting, the London Fire Brigade has said the fire at the North Hyde Electricity Substation in west London is now “under control”.
They are expected to remain on the scene throughout the day to assist the National Grid in assessing the site.
Let’s take a look at what we know, and don’t know, so far:

The London Fire Brigade received the first report about the fire at 23:23 GMT
It sent 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters to respond to a burning transformer within the substation
Firefighters safely evacuated 29 people from neighbouring properties and a further 150 people were evacuated as a precaution
More than 4,900 homes have been left without power
There have been no reports of any injuries and the fire was under control by 06:28 GMT
It’s still unclear what caused the fire – Energy Secretary Ed Miliband described it earlier as an “unprecedented event”

Image source, UK Pool
Image source, PA Media
We’ve referred a lot this morning to a substation that caught fire in Hayes. Here’s a bit more information about what that is.
Substations play an important part in the UK’s national electricity grid.
There are two types: transmission substations and distribution substations.
Transmission substations handle high-voltage electricity transmission over long distances, while distribution substations bring down the voltage for local distribution to homes and businesses.
Increasing and lowering the voltage of electricity for these purposes is one of the main roles of substations – and the process is done via a piece of equipment called a transformer.
According to the London Fire Brigade, a transformer within the electrical substation in Hayes caught fire.
Image source, Getty Images
Frustrated passengers might ask this morning why there was no backup plan at Heathrow in case the airport’s usual power source failed.
Aviation expert John Strickland tells BBC 5Live that there are backup systems in place for key systems, but stresses the scale of the challenge of keeping an airport moving.
“There are just so many systems at an airport used by so many different players, not only the airport itself and the airlines, but handling agents, engineering companies, catering companies, you name it”, he says.
“You could be talking about anything from switching on lights in a toilet to the far more serious stuff” he adds, citing “air traffic control functioning, aircraft manoeuvring around airports [and] baggage being loaded”
Despite this, Strickland suggests that the airport could “theoretically” do the minimum of landing an aircraft safely on its emergency systems.
And, he says the question about backup will be “the biggest topic of discussion once the dust settles”.
More now from travel journalist Simon Calder, who has been speaking to BBC News.
He says the disruption at Heathrow “shows up once again how little slack there is in the system”.
“This just points out the sheer lack of resilience. The one reason that there are people in Amsterdam, in Lyon in southern France, in Iceland right now is because there isn’t enough room in south-east England to divert those planes,” he says.
“The natural diversion airport would be London Gatwick,” he says, adding that airport did take flights but then had to say “sorry, we’re full, we are the busiest single-runway airport in the world”.
Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent, reporting from Heathrow airport
We are as close to Heathrow Terminal 2 as we are allowed to be.
Some passengers have not taken advice that they should not turn up and not attempt to travel from Heathrow.
They’re being turned away on the bridge that leads to the closed airport
The skies are silent, the air traffic is nearly zero. About 10 minutes ago, two circling helicopters were seen and heard gathering pictures for the media, as the world watches the spectacle of an empty Heathrow Airport.
The last time I remember Heathrow being closed fully was in 2010.
Image source, Getty Images

Page 4

The fire at a substation that has caused a massive blackout at Heathrow Airport has been brought under control – and aerial footage shows thick smoke billowing from it.
Fire crews can be seen working nearby, and planes can be seen parked at the airport.
Media caption,
Smoking substation near Heathrow seen from above
Michael Race
Business reporter
With Heathrow being such a busy and important airport for passenger journeys and global trade, questions are being asked whether it has back-up systems in the event of power cuts.
The BBC understands that Heathrow does have back up power for its key systems, but kickstarting these alternative power supplies for the whole airport takes time.
A source says it isn’t possible to switch the power back on immediately.
And even once the power is back one, there are countless systems which need to be rebooted and checked to ensure they are working properly and are stable.
get involved
Your Voice, Your BBC News
Have your flights been cancelled, diverted or delayed due to the Heathrow Airport disruption? Or have you been evacuated from your home in west London after the fire at the Hayes electrical substation?
If so, you can get in touch via Your Voice, Your BBC News.
Send us your story at www.bbc.co.uk/yourvoice, email [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 7756 165803.
John Campbell
BBC News NI economics and business editor
Image source, PA Media
The flight path between Heathrow and Dublin is one of the busiest international routes in Europe – 34 flights, 17 in each direction, were scheduled for Friday.
Graeme McQueen from Dublin Airport Authority told broadcaster RTE there were a lot of passengers at the airport early this morning who were unaware of the disruption and are trying to rebook flights.
He added that passengers due to fly to Heathrow over the weekend should be prepared for potential further cancellations.
In total around 70 flights to and from the island of Ireland could be cancelled on Friday.
Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland has said it has facilitated several diverted flights originally scheduled to land at Heathrow on Friday morning, including flights from Toronto, Atlanta, Bridgetown Barbados, Boston, Orlando and Newark.
Sarah Fowler
Live reporter
Like thousands of passengers today, my travel plans have been completely thrown into the air.
My alarm went off at 04:00 GMT as we had an 08:15 flight from Heathrow to Inverness – and the first thing I saw was the BBC alert about the London airport’s closure.
We couldn’t believe our bad luck. It was a trip years in the making – and much delayed due to the Covid pandemic – to celebrate my dad’s 70th birthday by tracking his ancestral routes in the Highlands.
We have my three-year-old with us and decided flying would be simpler than inflicting a 1,068-mile (1,719km) round trip on him. Once seeing the news, we decided to cut our losses and hit the road anyway.
We’re now three hours into the journey – we’ve got another six to go and morale is high. We’re some of the lucky ones able to find an alternative route and avoid the chaos. Others are clearly not going to be so lucky today.
Image caption,
Those travelling through King’s Cross station were told in clear terms: “Do not travel to Heathrow Airport”
Transport for London has urged commuters to avoid travelling to Heathrow Airport given today’s airport closure.
In King’s Cross, posters and signs were swiftly put up to warn those who missed news of the fire, and subsequent airport closure in west London, not to travel to Europe’s busiest airport.
The Elizabeth Line, which runs trains to Hayes (the site of the electrical substation fire) and to Heathrow’s terminals, warned that there would be “no service between Hayes and Harlington and Heathrow Airport”.
More than 4,900 homes have been left without power after the large fire broke out at North Hyde Electricity Substation in Hayes.
Below, the map shows how disruption from the fire spread to Heathrow airport a few miles away.
Kevin Peachey
Cost of living correspondent
The rules around compensation and refunds can be tricky, and it is usually a high-stress situation when you need to know about them.
We’ve already outlined the key points, but it is important to remember that your airline has a contract with you to get you to your destination as soon as possible. If you take a refund, then that duty ends.
Lots of us book parts of holidays separately and so losses with, for example, accommodation require – hopefully – some goodwill from the provider.
Otherwise, it may need a claim to your credit card provider if you paid that way or through travel insurance. It’s important to keep all your receipts for any extra costs incurred.
If the problem was the fault of the airline, then you are entitled to extra compensation – but that’s clearly not relevant today as it was beyond their control.
Image source, Getty Images
We’ve been hearing from passengers who have been impacted by Heathrow Airport’s closure.
Tori Dunzello, who was on board a flight and travelling for her father’s funeral when the disruption began, tells BBC Breakfast she saw the plane she was on making “a big U-turn” on the in-flight map which shows the flight’s path.
Media caption,
Passenger says her plane made a U-turn and has since landed in Canada to refuel
Travel journalist Simon Calder says he believes this is the first time London Heathrow has completely shut down since 2010.
“This is the busiest day of the week at the busiest airport in Europe,” he tells the BBC.
“Fifteen years ago was the last time we saw the skies close down at Heathrow,” he adds.
The 2010 Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption sent a huge ash plume several kilometres into the atmosphere, grounding thousands of flights across Europe. A snowstorm in December that same year also caused chaos for days in the lead-up to Christmas.
Charlotte Gallagher
Reporting from Heathrow Airport
Despite roads around the airport being closed some people have decided to come to the airport by foot.
We’ve seen some dragging their suitcases towards the terminals only to be turned away by police officers.
The message is: don’t come here as you will just sent back home or to your hotel.
Image source, Getty Images
Birmingham Airport says there will be no delays to their customers due to diverted flights from Heathrow Airport.
“Airports regularly take diverts as part of normal operations, and flights inbound to London Heathrow will use multiple airports around the UK, and Ireland, or alternatively may return to their departure airport,” a spokesperson says.
“We will assist with landing any diverted aircraft during the Heathrow closure today and work with those LHR airlines to repatriate their customers upon arrival into Birmingham.”
Image source, Getty Images
The London Fire Brigade says the fire at an electricity substation on Nestles Avenue in Hayes – which led to the widespread disruption at Heathrow Airport – is now “under control”.
“Our fire investigators will begin their investigation and we will continue working closely with our partners to minimise disruption and support the community,” the statement adds, external.
It says a transformer within the substation was alight and around 70 firefighters “worked tirelessly” to stop the flames “as swiftly as possible”.
“Thanks to their efforts and coordinated multi-agency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread,” assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne says.
“Due to the significant smoke, we strongly advise local residents to keep their windows and doors closed, as some smoke will remain for a number of hours today,” he adds, saying that scientific advisers will be on-site this morning to monitor the air quality.
Image source, PA Media
A lot of flights were already in the air and some had made significant progress in their journeys towards Heathrow when the disruption began.
As a result, a number of flights have been diverted to airports around the world, according to the website Flightradar24.
Passengers on a flight from Bangkok were among those diverted to Brussels, and some, including passengers on a flight from New York City, have been diverted to Iceland, according to the flight tracking website.
A flight from Boston was diverted to Goose Bay Airport in Canada, and a flight out of New York City made it two hours and forty minutes into its journey before being turned around and sent back to JFK.
Heathrow-bound flights have also been diverted to airports in Ireland, Cardiff, and Manchester, as well as Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid and beyond.
More now from Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who has been speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He says he has spoken to National Grid this morning, and the company has described the outage as an “unprecedented event” – but Miliband adds they are working hard to restore power.
“There’s obviously been a catastrophic fire at this substation,” he says, adding “it appears to have knocked out a back-up generator as well as a substation itself.”
“We will have to look hard at the causes, and also the protection and the resilience that is in place for major, major institutions like Heathrow,” he adds.
When flights are delayed or cancelled, airlines have a duty to look after you.
That includes providing meals and accommodation, if necessary, and getting you to your destination. The airline should organise putting you on an alternative flight at no extra cost.
Additional losses – such as unused accommodation – might require a claim to a credit card provider, if that was the payment option used.
After that, a claim may need to go to your travel insurance provider. But there is no standard definition of what is covered.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority, if your flight is delayed or cancelled, you may be entitled to compensation – but only when the airline is at fault. If the delay is caused by an “extraordinary circumstance” then passengers are not entitled to compensation.
A little earlier this morning, we heard from Tom Jenkins, chief executive of the European Tourism Association.
Jenkins advises passengers not to panic – but warns those trying to book onward journeys themselves that there is no automatic compensation for an event like this.
“I hope you have travel insurance,” he says, adding that a situation like this is out of the airlines’ control and usual compensation routes probably will not apply.
Passengers should check with their airlines for more information about what compensation they might be able to receive.
Read our full explainer: What are my rights if my flight is cancelled or delayed?
Victoria Park-Froud
Journalist
We’re continuing to hear your stories today about disrupted travel plans while Heathrow is closed.
Anabelle Kiff tells us that she’s had her birthday trip to New York halted by Heathrow’s closure.
She describes how she and her partner Max were supposed to leave their home in Brighton at 04:00 GMT to head for the airport, but have now decided to stay put.
“Our holiday is now cancelled,” Anabelle says. “I feel so gutted”.
BBC News reporter Thomas Mackintosh has been caught in the Heathrow closure chaos.
He travelled to Athens for a Scotland football match against Greece – and was trying to catch an early flight home. Listen below as he describes how passengers reacted to the news that their flights were cancelled.
Media caption,
BBC News reporter explains the scene at Athens airport following Heathrow closure
Gem O’Reilly
Reporting from west London
I’ve been here at the Premier Inn in Hayes for the last few hours. People here have come for refuge from the fire, they’ve been up all night worrying about their homes and when they’ll be able to return.
One woman told me her house shook with the fire and described the communication as “shocking”.
More than 150 homes have been evacuated following the fire at North Hayes Electrical Substation – and many don’t know when they’ll return.
They say they watched the flames overnight and many are disturbed by what happened here.
British Airways, which operates a dedicated terminal out of Heathrow Airport, says it’s expecting significant impacts from the airport’s closure.
The airline says it is working as quickly as possible to update passengers on their travel options for “the next 24 hours and beyond”.
Passengers were also urged to avoid travelling to the airport “until further notice”.

Page 5

Gem O’Reilly
Reporting from west London
Image caption,
Vaneca Sinclair (left) and Savita Kapur
A group of residents who were evacuated following an explosion at the North Hyde power substation say there was little communication overnight, leaving them confused about where to go.
“I was about 100 yards from the explosion,” Vaneca Sinclair, 64, tells the BBC.
She recalls that at about 23:30 GMT last night she was getting ready to go to sleep, when “suddenly there was this huge bang and the house just shook”. At first, she thought someone had crashed into the wall – but after opening the front door she was confronted with flames “everywhere down at the bottom of the road”.
Vaneca grabbed her coat and a pair of trainers, then “ran down the road to see what it was… and realised it was the substation on fire.”
Sinclair says police later told her and other residents to return home and grab essentials before evacuating, but no-one told them where to gather.
Eventually, they walked to the nearby Premier Inn, which let them in and allowed them to have hot drinks and use toilets while they waited for more information.
“When the first explosion went off … I literally just ran out of the house,” her neighbour Savita Kapur, 51, adds.
“I have an elderly mother who is in her 80s and not very well at all; I had to escort her into my car and get her out of the area and drop her off to my sisters.
“When I was driving up my road the second explosion went off and the whole ground shook.”
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has been speaking to BBC Breakfast about the disruption at Heathrow and the surrounding area.
He says National Grid is saying “doing everything they can”. He adds it’s a fast-moving situation and the government will be doing everything it can “to work with Grid on the work they’re doing”.
Miliband is then asked how such a busy transport hub is able to be so severely disrupted by a fire at an electrical substation and why it appears to be so vulnerable.
“It’s too early to answer that question. We don’t know the cause of this fire. It’s obviously an unprecedented event,” the energy secretary says.
He says the government will want to understand the causes and “what lessons, if any, it can teach us”.
Miliband adds: “the Grid have never seen an event quite like this so it is very unprecedented”, adding the priority at the moment is to get the fire out, restore power, and “unwinding” the travel disruption.
Sean Dilley
Travel correspondent
Travel problems are going to be slightly longer-lasting for some people.
Diversion to Holland, to Frankfurt, all the way to Manchester for the lucky people who can get trains and coaches down.
Meanwhile, planes parked up in different airports around the world now have to be relocated.
Gatwick Airport had said it would step in and help as much as it can, but it is at capacity and it’s not realistic to think it will be able to take on much more.
There are other airports in the London area, such as Stansted and Luton, but capacity is still limited.
Don’t even think about travelling to Heathrow Airport whilst it is closed. It is a waste of your time and it will cause more difficulties for emergency services tackling the blaze near the airport.
We can now bring you a look at the scene inside Heathrow while the airport is experiencing a massive power cut.
Pictures show darkened corridors and emergency lights.
Media caption,
Heathrow Airport in the dark following power station fire
It’s not just flights – trains around Heathrow are also being disrupted today.
The Heathrow Express, which connects the airport with Paddington station, says there are no services in either direction today, and is advising people not to try and travel to the airport.
On the Elizabeth Line, Transport for London says there is no service between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport, with severe delays between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.
So far, Transport for London says that there is good service on the Piccadilly Line.
We’ve just had another update from National Grid, which says that as of 06:00 GMT power had been restored to 62,000 customers, with 4,900 still without power.
As we reported earlier, it says a fire at its North Hyde substation in West London had damaged equipment and caused a loss of power supply to some areas.
“We are working at speed to restore power supplies as quickly as possible,” National Grid says in a post on social media, external, adding “restoration efforts will continue this morning and further updates will be provided.”
We can now bring you some of the latest images near North Hyde electrical substation, where emergency services have been operating since the early hours of Friday.
Photos show emergency vehicles filling the streets and firefighters working near the site.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Earlier, the London Fire Brigade said around 70 firefighters had been deployed to the scene in west London to tackle the blaze
Image source, PA Media
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, PA Media
Simon King
BBC weather presenter and meteorologist
My mum has been in Jamaica for a big birthday over the last week and was due to arrive back at Heathrow this morning.
I’ve woken this morning with a message from her while in the air to say they have been told that because of an “incident at Heathrow”, they are flying back to Montego Bay airport.
After travelling almost half way across the Atlantic, they were told that “no airport in Britain could take us so we just had to turn around”.
They are still in the air. She is guessing it’ll take a while to figure out now what will happen when they arrive back in Jamaica – or when they’ll eventually get home.
Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent
Airports and airlines have two key challenges as emergency services work to establish the cause of the nearby fire. First, what on earth can they do to limit the damage to travellers and the economy?
The second challenge extends beyond today. Flight plans are meticulously orchestrated and choreographed to make sure aircraft are in the right place at the right time.
Aircraft will be parked in far-flung airports, passengers will have questions and authorities will be keen to understand the impact of the disruption.
The implications will stretch far wider than Heathrow, and could impact flights much further afield.
Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent
The term “nightmare” is too weak of a descriptor to paint a true picture of the chaos this will cause.
Every type of crisis meeting you can imagine is taking place as authorities at Heathrow, and at airlines who rely on the world’s second-largest airport, work furiously to implement backup plans.
There’s a contingency plan for everything, but the issue for flight planners, airlines and airports across the UK and Europe is encapsulated by one word: capacity.
Gatwick has already said it will help as much as it can, but I was standing on the controversial north runway just a few weeks ago, 200m (656 feet) away from the airport’s only operational runway. A flight was taking off and leaving around every one minute and 10 seconds.
We were talking expansion that day – but the bosses made it clear, Gatwick is slammed. It’s full. Its ability to help will be highly limited.
Airports in Europe and in the UK are already pitching in. Some passengers have been diverted to Manchester; no doubt they are sighing a breath of relief to be just hundreds of miles away from their intended destination.
get involved
Your Voice, Your BBC News
Have your flights been cancelled, diverted or delayed due to the Heathrow Airport disruption? Or have you been evacuated from your home in west London after the fire at the Hayes electrical substation?
If so, you can get in touch via Your Voice, Your BBC News.
Send us your story at www.bbc.co.uk/yourvoice, email [email protected] or WhatsApp +44 7756 165803.
Charlotte Gallagher
Reporting from Heathrow Airport
We’re on a bridge overlooking the entrance to Terminal 2 and 3.
It should be full of cars and taxis taking passengers to and from the airport but it’s deserted.
Some people seemingly didn’t hear the airport shut and were queuing at a roundabout nearby – police were there to turn them around though.
Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, BBC News Singapore
Image source, Getty Images
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport says that around 30 flights are scheduled to and from London Heathrow today.
“At this moment, half of them have been cancelled”, it said.
So far, one flight has been diverted to Schiphol.
Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, BBC News Singapore
Hong Kong’s main airline Cathay Pacific says flights CX239 and CX253 from Hong Kong to London today have been cancelled.
All Cathay flights from London to Hong Kong have also been cancelled, the airline added.
“We are assessing the situation and will keep our customers informed with the latest updates,” it also told the BBC.
Image source, Cathay Pacific
Thomas Mackintosh
Live reporter
Never a dull time following the Tartan Army!
After the match last night we were kept back by Greek Police for 45 minutes so didn’t leave the ground until just after 00:30 local time. We microwaved some sleep and were up for 5:30 (03:30 GMT) – only to be told our original flight had been cancelled.
We have been fortunate enough to get a seat on another flight to Gatwick. These certainly aren’t cheap seats, but we’re glad to be on a flight bound for London!
For us, it meant having to check-in with another airline, then go through passport control and security again. The layout of Athens airport is one where you must clear passport control as the next step after you first scan your boarding pass at departures.
So, we had to get another stamp on our passport and a little mark from the border control officer to signal our situation.
We know of a few other Tartan Army friends who have tried to get flights back to Scotland via Dublin, Milan, and Rome. I’ve even heard Istanbul mentioned – so it gives you an idea of the fresh travel plans people are having to draw up and fork out for.
Malu Cursino
Live reporter
It’s after 06:30 GMT in the UK and all flights to and from Heathrow Airport have been cancelled until midnight tonight following a fire at the nearby North Hyde electrical substation.
As yet, there is no electricity to the airport and nearby homes and businesses. More than 100 people were evacuated.
The full knock-on impact is still being assessed, as flights scheduled to come into the UK via Heathrow had to be cancelled.
More than 1,300 flights around the world have been affected.
A Heathrow spokesperson said its terminals had to be shut as they “do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored”.
The London Fire Brigade says around 70 firefighters were tackling the blaze in the west of London.
Image source, Reuters
João da Silva
Business reporter in Singapore
Air India says its London-bound AI129 flight is returning to Mumbai.
Another flight – AI161 from Delhi – is being diverted to Frankfurt. All other remaining Air India flights to and from London Heathrow on 21 March have been cancelled.
The company’s flights to London Gatwick remain unaffected.
“We will update about resumption of operations as soon as we have more information,” a statement from the airline said.
Charlotte Gallagher
Reporting from Heathrow
Heathrow will be closed until midnight on Friday but the airport is warning of “significant disruption” in the days after that.
Aircraft and crews will be in different locations as flights have been diverted or in some cases not even left a runway.
It will also have to deal with the huge influx of passengers when the airport reopens.
National Grid says in a post on X that the fire at North Hyde substation has “damaged equipment, leading to a loss of power supply in the area”.
“We are working at speed to restore power supplies as quickly as possible and will provide an update as soon as we can,” the statement says.
We’re now hearing from the London Fire Brigade that the blaze at the electrical substation in Hayes has not been extinguished.
“Part of a transformer within the substation remains alight,” an update on social media from the London Fire Brigade says.
Firefighters are “working tirelessly” to bring the blaze under control, the statement adds. “As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible.”
Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters have been dispatched to the site. The cause of the fire remains unclear at this point.

Page 6

Here is the full statement from Heathrow Airport, posted to its social media a short time ago:

“Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation.

Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.

To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025.

We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.

We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available.

We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.”

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