Heathrow Airport drone footage of giant blaze that grounded flights in closure chaos

The cause of the fire has not yet been released as many jump to conclusion of “sabotage” as Europe’s biggest airport completely knocked out by one fire at an electricty substation

Drone footage shows the fire that has caused Heathrow to shut down for a whole day, causing international flight chaos.

The blaze began overnight at North Hyde Electricity Substation in Hayes, West London, knocking out power to the busiest airport in Europe, as well as 100,000 homes in the area.

Firefighters are still working on putting out the blaze as the terrifying footage shows the blaze takeover. The incident forced many to be evacuated.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Heathrow is experiencing a significant power outage across the airport due to a large fire at a nearby electrical substation. Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored.”

The statement continued: “To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025. We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.

“We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available. We know this will be disappointing for passengers and we want to reassure that we are working as hard as possible to resolve the situation.”

Flights in the air were forced to divert to other nearby airports. London Gatwick initially said that it would step in to help as much as it could but it is now at capacity. There are other airports in the London area, such as Stansted and Luton, but capacity is still limited.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told BBC Breakfast: “The grid has never seen an event quite like this. We will want to understand both the causes of this event and what lessons, if any, it can teach us.” He stressed that the priority right now is to put the fire out and restore power to stop the “terrible disruption” to passengers.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander wrote on X: “I’m receiving updates on the fast-moving situation at Heathrow Airport.

“I’m grateful to emergency services responding to the fire and National Grid for working to restore power to the airport and homes. I’d urge passengers not to travel to the airport and contact their airline.”

The fire has also caused local trains to be delayed or cancelled. The Heathrow Express, which connects the airport with Paddington station, says there are no services in either direction today, and is advising people not to try and travel to the airport.

On the Elizabeth Line, Transport for London says there is no service between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Airport, with severe delays between Paddington and Hayes & Harlington.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.