London’s Heathrow airport has been forced to close until midnight after a fire at a nearby electricity substation caused a “significant power outage”.
“Due to a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport, Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage,” Heathrow airport wrote in a post on X.
The London Fire Brigade said in a statement late on Thursday that a large fire had broken out at an electrical substation in Hayes, near Heathrow, after a transformer caught alight.
The statement did not mention the airport, but it said the fire had “caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes and local businesses”.
“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 assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne.
“This will be a prolonged incident, with crews remaining on scene throughout the night. As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible.”
Firefighters have set up a 200-metre cordon and evacuated 150 people, said Goulbourne.
Heathrow said the airport would be closed until “23h59 on 21 March”.
“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information,” the airport added.