Heathrow Airport closed live updates as huge fire shuts airport

Heathrow Airport is closed for the whole day following a huge fire at the electrical substation supplying its power. Passengers are being warned that they "should not travel to the airport under any circumstances."

The sudden closure is expected to disrupt more than 1,300 flights to and from the airport on Friday. The fire has also left thousands of home without power and led to more than 100 people being evacuated.

Emergency services were called to the scene at North Hyde electrical substation in west London.11.23pm on Thursday. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

Flight tracking website Flightradar24 said that an estimated 120 aircraft were already in the air when the closure was announced. It showed flights being diverted to Gatwick, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Ireland's Shannon Airport. A number of flights were also turned around and returned to airports in Canada and the United States.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Heathrow Airport said: "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 March 21, 2025. We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens." Are you affected by the closure of Heathrow Airport? Drop us an email at newsdesk@walesonline.co.uk.

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