Heathrow Airport closed all day over power outage

Heathrow Airport will be closed throughout Friday over a “significant” power outage linked to a fire at a nearby electrical substation that supplies it.

The airport, which is the UK’s busiest, has warned of “significant disruption” over the coming days and told passengers not to travel “under any circumstances” until it reopens.

Almost 5,000 homes remain without power after two explosions and a fire at the substation in Hayes, west London, and 150 people have been evacuated from surrounding properties.

Emergency services were first called to the scene at 23:23 GMT, and video shared on social media showed tall flames and smoke billowing from the substation overnight.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) has said the fire is now under control after a transformer was previously alight. The cause of the blaze is yet to be determined.

National Grid said on X it restored power to 62,000 customers at 06:00, and 4,900 homes remain without power.

Ten fire engines and about 70 firefighters have been sent to tackle the blaze, LFB said.

The Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told BBC Breakfast he had spoken to National Grid and it was a “fast-moving situation”.

Asked how such a busy transport hub is able to be so severely disrupted by a fire at an electrical substation, he replied: “It’s too early to answer that question. We don’t know the cause of this fire. It’s obviously an unprecedented event.”

He says the government will want to understand the causes and “what lessons, if any, it can teach us”.

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Miliband added that the National Grid had “never seen an event quite like this so it is very unprecedented”, adding the priority at the moment was to get the fire out, restore power, and “unwinding” the travel disruption.

At least 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow will be affected on Friday, flight tracking website Flightradar24 said on X, with some 120 affected aircraft already in the air when the closure was announced.

A 200m cordon has been put in place as a precaution, and local residents have been advised to keep doors and windows closed because of a “significant amount of smoke”.

The brigade added it led 29 people to safety from nearby properties.

Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne said firefighters “have made good progress in containing the fire and preventing further spread”.

“As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible.”

A Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23:59 on 21 March 2025.”

“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,” they added.

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

The airport has apologised for the disruption and has advised passengers to contact their airlines for further information.

Heathrow is the UK’s largest aviation hub, handling about 1,300 landings and take-offs each day. A record 83.9 million passengers passed through its terminals last year, according to its latest data.

Seven United Airlines flights bound for Heathrow have returned to their origin or been diverted to other airports, the US-based carrier told BBC News.

Australia’s flagship Qantas airline told BBC News two of its flights have been diverted from London to Paris.