Major Fire In London Substation, Heathrow Airport Closed, Thousands Without Power

London's Heathrow Airport has shut till midnight - affecting at least inbound and outbound 1,351 flights - after a fire in a substation in the western part of the city led to a "significant power outage" and left over 16,000 homes without electricity. According to British media over 150 people were also evacuated.

The London Fire Brigade said it had deployed 10 fire engines and around 70 firefighters and a 200-metre safety cordon is in effect. Local residents - the substation is in Hayes in London's Hillingdon borough, were told to stay inside and keep doors and windows closed because of the smoke.

As of 11.34 am (India time) the blaze remains active, London fire officials said.

In an X post Friday morning (India time) the airport advised passengers not to travel and contact their respective airlines for further details. "Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage. To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 11.59 pm on March 21," the airport said.

An airport spokesperson told the BBC, "Whilst fire crews are responding, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored... we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation."

Several flights have already being diverted, according to flight-tracking website FlightRadar24, while airport authorities told news agency AFP they "expect significant disruption over the coming days".

Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage.

To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March.

Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport… pic.twitter.com/7SWNJP8ojd

— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) March 21, 2025

In a statement on X, Air India said all its flights to and from Heathrow had been cancelled for the day.

"For more information or assistance, please call our Contact Centre at +91 1169329333 / +91 1169329999. UK-bound customers, please call +44 203 757 2760."

Flights to and from London's Gatwick, however, will be unaffected and the airport, which is about 60km southeast of Heathrow, has said it will accept flights diverted from Heathrow.

Visuals of the fire were shared online by Sputnik, Russia's state-owned news agency. It showed a fiery blaze lighting up the night sky, with a massive plume of smoke rising into the air.

📹 POWER BLAZE IN LONDON SHUTS DOWN UK'S BUSIEST AIRPORT, HEATHROW – REPORTS

Firefighters are struggling to contain a major blaze at the Hayes electrical substation, causing evacuations and widespread power outages, Sky News reported.

Videos from social media pic.twitter.com/XwfAopJYvq

— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) March 21, 2025

Meanwhile, the Scottish and Southern Electricity Network, which supplies power to nearly four million homes in central and southern England, as well as the north of Scotland, said the fire broke out at the North Hyde substation and that emergency services were on the scene.

"We are aware of a widespread power cut affecting many of our customers around the Hayes, Hounslow and surrounding areas (of London). The site (of the fire) has been evacuated and the safety of local residents, our colleagues, and the emergency teams is our highest priority." 

There's a fire at North Hyde substation in West London and emergency services are in attendance.

The site has been evacuated and the safety of local residents, our colleagues, and the emergency teams is our highest priority.

We will provide an update as soon as possible.

— Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (@ssencommunity) March 21, 2025

Heathrow is among the busiest global airports in the world.

A record 84 million passengers passed through in 2024 - a third of which came from the European Union. This number was three million more than the previous high in 2019, a year before the pandemic.

News of the day-long outage prompted complaints from worried travellers, with some slamming the power outage as "an embarrassment that a major airport can be closed for a whole day".

Another user questioned the lack of power back-ups or generators, and a third had a more humorous spin, drawing (modified) parallels to 'Die Hard', the iconic action film series starring Bruce Willis.

In the second film in the series Mr Willis' character fights off a terrorist attack at the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. in the United States.

With input from agencies

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