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.
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.
Part of a transformer within the substation is still alight, according to London Fire Brigade (LFB). The cause of the fire 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.
A 200-metre 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.
‘There was this huge bang’
A group of residents who were evacuated from the road gathered at a nearby Premier Inn but said there was little communication overnight, leaving them confused about where to go.
Vaneca Sinclair, 64, said: “I was about 100 yards from the explosion. At about 11.30 I was getting up getting ready to go to bed.
“Suddenly there was this huge bang and the house just shook.
“I thought maybe someone had crashed into the wall or something and then opened the front door and I had a look and there were just these flames everywhere down at the bottom of the road.
“I quickly grabbed my coat and trainers and ran down the road to see what it was… and realised it was the substation on fire.”
She added the scene was “unbelievable – the flames and the smoke and everything… it was just scary”.
Ms Sinclair said police later told them to return home and grab essentials before evacuating, but no-one told them where to gather and eventually they walked to the hotel, which let them in and allowed them to have hot drinks and use toilets while they waited.
“I’m absolutely shattered now,” she said, adding she had not slept since the night before.
Her neighbour Savita Kapur, 51, said: “When the first explosion went off at 11.30, I literally just ran out of the house.”
She said police officers told them to go back inside before eventually telling her she needed to leave.
“I have an elderly mother who is in her eighties 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.”
She said she managed to drop off her mother and make it to the Premier Inn with other residents, but there has been “no communication”.
But she thanked emergency services and said she appreciated the road was not yet safe to return to.
“We were actually standing on our road behind the police line until about 2.30 in the morning,” she explained.
‘I’m stuck in Athens’
BBC journalist Thomas Mackintosh was among a few bleary-eyed Scots in Athens who attended a football match against Greece on Thursday but were up before sunrise for a flight to Heathrow.
The group had cleared passport control and security in good time and as they were queuing for some breakfast a staff member shouted: “All flights to Heathrow cancelled.”
When the passengers asked why, they were told all flights to Heathrow on Friday had been cancelled due to a fire.
They were then huddled among 50 other passengers and walked back through passport control to re-enter Greece.
Plenty of passengers were planning on getting a connecting flight up to Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen. They have been looking at re-booking via other European cities for an unknown cost at this last minute.
LFB said it had received nearly 200 calls about the fire.
“This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” said Mr Goulborne added.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on X: “I’m receiving updates on the fast-moving situation at Heathrow Airport.
“I’m grateful to emergency services responding to the fire, and National Grid for working to restore power to the airport and homes.
“I’d urge passengers not to travel to the airport, and contact their airline.”
On the Elizabeth Line, Transport for London (TfL) says there is no service between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport, with severe delays between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.
It added, however, that there is good service on the Piccadilly Line.
A spokesperson for the Heathrow Express, which connects the airport with Paddington station, said there are no services in either direction and advised people not to try to travel to the airport.
