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Heathrow Airport closed LIVE: Updates as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic hub shut following fire
The Mirror
Heathrow Airport says no flights will leave or arrive at the hub – used by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic – on Friday following a fire at nearby North Hyde Electricity Substation
Heathrow Airport is closed for the whole day following a huge fire at the electrical substation supplying its power.
Travellers have been ordered not to travel to the airport, served by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines and other firms, due to the “significant power outage”. It has happened as a result of a large blaze at North Hyde Electricity Substation, which is in Hayes, west London, following which several homes have been evacuated.
Firefighters remain at the scene at the National Grid facility, where a transformer – a device which transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another or multiple – remains alight. However, the incident has caused severe disruption for Heathrow, which says it is unclear when services will resume to normal.
It means passengers will not fly in or out today and must instead await further information from the airport and their airline. More than 200,000 people travel through the airport every day and the chaos expected from the closure is set to have drawn out effects over the weekend. More than 1,000 flights in and out of the hub are expected to be diverted by midnight.
In a statement, Heathrow says: “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 23:59 on 21 March. Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport and should contact their airline for further information. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Elsewhere, Thousands of homes have been left without power and more than 100 people were evacuated. Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X there was a large-scale power outage in the area impacting more than 16,300 homes. It said: “We’re aware of a widespread power cut affecting many of our customers around the Hayes, Hounslow and surrounding areas.”
The cause of the fire is unclear at this stage. The Mirror has contacted National Grid, which operates North Hyde Electricity Substation, for comment.
Once-in-a-lifetime plans in the balance as US-London flight forced to U-turn
Passengers heading from the US to London could have their plans affected after their flights were forced to return to America due to the Heathrow fire.
US-Norwegian citizen Kim Mikkel Skibrek, 40, was headed to London to catch an onward flight to Oslo to see his father, who has cancer. He told CNN he plans to board another flight as soon as possible.
Abby Hertz and her husband were travelling on the flight with their two children to attend the wedding of her best childhood friend.
“We are flying to my husband’s best friend from childhood’s wedding, which had been postponed due to Covid,” Hertz told CNN. “The couple’s son had leukemia and is now in remission, so they are finally getting married. We have a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old in tow with us so it’s …not fun.”