London’s 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 BBC reports.
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.
The fire at the substation in Hayes, west London, has left thousands of homes without power 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.
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.
