London’s Heathrow airport closed, flights disrupted: What led to the power outage?

London’s Heathrow Airport was pressured to shut down operations till midnight on March 21 after an enormous fireplace at {an electrical} substation triggered a widespread power outage, disrupting flights and affecting 1000’s of properties in west London.
The fireplace, which broke out late Thursday evening, triggered important harm to the substation, main to power failures throughout the area. According to Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, greater than 16,300 properties misplaced power, whereas round 150 folks had to be evacuated from close by areas.

“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow for the full day Friday,” the airport stated in an announcement.
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“We expect significant disruption over the coming days, and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens.”
The London Fire Brigade deployed 10 fireplace engines and roughly 70 firefighters to the scene. Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne confirmed, “The fire has caused a power outage affecting a large number of homes and local businesses, and we are working closely with our partners to minimise disruption.”
Emergency providers have been alerted to the incident at 11:23 p.m. on Thursday. Footage circulating on social media confirmed huge flames and thick plumes of smoke rising from the web site. A consumer on X cited Russian media sources on Telegram whereas sharing visuals of the blaze.

Authorities have but to decide the explanation for the fireplace, and there’s no timeline for full restoration of power. Heathrow, one in every of the world’s busiest airports for worldwide journey, has warned of continued disruption in the coming days, urging travellers to keep up to date by way of their airways.