Heathrow Airport in London, UK, will be closed until midnight due to a significant fire at a nearby electricity substation. A spokesperson for the airport confirmed to Sky News that there is a “major power outage across the airport,” and they currently lack information on when power will be reliably restored.

“To ensure the safety of our passengers and staff, we have no option but to keep Heathrow closed until 23:59 on March 21, 2025. We anticipate considerable disruption in the coming days, and passengers are advised not to travel to the airport until it reopens,” the statement noted.

According to the flight tracking site Flightradar24, approximately 1,351 flights scheduled to operate in and out of Heathrow today will be impacted. This includes around 120 flights that were already airborne on Friday morning, which may either be diverted to alternative airports or asked to return to their departure points

Some of these flights have already been redirected to Gatwick, Paris, and Shannon in Ireland. Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports, having served a record 83.9 million passengers last year, with a plane taking off or landing approximately every 45 seconds