Heathrow Airport closes all day over energy outage | EUROtoday

Heathrow Airport is closing all day Friday due to a big hearth at a close-by electrical substation that provides it.

The airport is experiencing a “significant power outage” due to the hearth, a press release from Heathrow stated.

“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23:59 on 21 March,” it added.

“Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

“Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored,” a Heathrow spokesperson stated, including that employees have been “working as hard as possible to resolve the situation”.

Passengers mustn’t journey to the airport “under any circumstances” till it reopens, they stated.

Heathrow is the UK’s largest airport, dealing with round 1,300 landings and take-offs every day. A document 83.9 million passengers handed by way of its terminals final yr.

The hearth on the substation in Hayes, in west London, has left 1000’s of houses with out energy and induced round 150 folks to be evacuated from surrounding properties.

Ten hearth engines and round 70 firefighters have been despatched to deal with the blaze, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) stated.

A 200-metre cordon has been put in place as a precaution, and native residents have been suggested to maintain doorways and home windows closed due to a “significant amount of smoke”.

More than 16,300 houses have misplaced energy in a large-scale outage trigger by the hearth, power provider Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks stated on X.

“We’re aware of a widespread power cut affecting many of our customers around the Hayes, Hounslow and surrounding areas,” it added.

The LFB stated it had acquired almost 200 calls concerning the hearth, which broke out late on Thursday night time.

Emergency providers have been known as to the scene at 23:23. The explanation for the hearth is but to be decided.

“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,” stated LFB Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulborne.

“This will be a prolonged incident, with crews remaining on scene throughout the night,” he added.

“As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible.”