Heathrow Airport live updates: London’s biggest airport will be SHUT all day on Friday after massive power cut following substation blaze

London firefighters were called a fire brigade of electricity stations around 8 p.m. on Thursday. In the hours that followed, shocking images of fireballs were spotted while gigantic plumes flowed black smoke in the sky.

The substation is less than two miles from Heathrow airport. It is said that it has caused a considerable power outage.

At 2 o'clock a spokeswoman for the airport said that the airport would be closed until 11.59 pm on Friday.

Since then, dozens of flights have been diverted – with more than 1,000 aircraft are expected to be rejected in the following hours.

The website for following the flight said on X: 'The total closure of today of London-Heathrow will influence at least 1,351 flights from/to LHR.

“That does not include flights that can be canceled or delayed because planes are out of position.”

Images of the fire see large clouds of smoke while firefighters try to extinguish the fire, while videos showed Heathrow from the inside that the airport was largely dark in the middle of the power outage.

Flights that land on Heathrow are already being diverted, but it is currently unclear how many flights are influenced.

One of the diverted aircraft, Flight US 146 from Newark, has now been set up to land in Shannon in Ireland shortly after the closure of Heathrow's airport has forced a distraction. It would be at Heathrow countries at 5.55 am.

Flights UA901 from San Francisco and EW9462 from Dusseldorf, which were set in Heathrow at 7.25 am, were also diverted.

Assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: 'This is a very visible and important incident, and our firefighters work tirelessly in challenging circumstances to control the fire as quickly as possible.

The fire has caused a power outage that affects a large number of houses and local companies, and we work closely with our partners to minimize disruption. '

He added: “Because of the considerable amount of smoke, we strongly recommend the locals to keep their windows and doors closed.”

'About 20 people have been evacuated from adjacent properties and a 200 -meter cordon has been established as a precaution with around 150 people evacuated.

'The fire produces a considerable amount of smoke and the locals are advised to keep their windows and doors closed.

'The control officers of the Brigade have taken nearly 200 calls to the fire. The first phone call was received at 10.23 pm and crews from Hayes, Heathrow, Hillingdon, Southhall and surrounding fire barracks were mobilized on the spot. '

'Heathrow experiences a considerable power outage at the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electric substation.

'While fire staff responds to the incident, we have no clarity about when power can be reliably restored.

'To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on March 21, 2025.

'We expect significant disturbance and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reoping.

'We will offer an update when more information about the resumption of the operations is available. We know that this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we work as hard as possible to resolve the situation. '