London’s Heathrow Airport announced on Friday that it will remain closed until midnight after a fire at a nearby electrical substation triggered a major power outage.

"To ensure the safety of passengers and staff, Heathrow will remain closed until 23:59 on March 21," the airport stated in a post on X, urging travelers to avoid the area.

Emergency crews are actively responding to the incident, but there is no clear timeline for when power will be fully restored, a Heathrow spokesperson told Reuters. Officials anticipate prolonged disruptions in the coming days.

Eurocontrol, which oversees European air traffic management, confirmed that no flights were being allowed to land at Heathrow due to the outage. Several inbound flights were already being rerouted, with Qantas diverting its Perth-London service to Paris and United Airlines redirecting a New York flight to Shannon, Ireland. A United Airlines flight from San Francisco was also rerouted to Washington, D.C., rather than its intended destination in London.

Flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 confirms multiple diversions as the airport remains out of operation.

Heathrow, which ranked as the world’s second-busiest international airport in 2024—trailing only Dubai, according to OAG—now faces substantial travel disruptions.

Meanwhile, the London Fire Brigade reported that crews were battling the blaze in Hayes, West London, and had evacuated approximately 150 people as a precaution.