London’s Heathrow airport has been closed until midnight on Friday after a fire at an electrical substation supplying the airport caused a “significant power outage” and left thousands of homes without power.

In a statement on its website and shared on social media, Heathrow airport said all passengers were advised not to travel to the airport.

“To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, Heathrow will be closed until 23h59 on 21 March,” the statement said.

An airport spokesperson said: “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.”

The fire at an electrical substation in west London has left more than 16,000 homes without power, and forced more than 100 people to evacuate.

The London fire brigade said a transformer within the substation was alight, with 10 fire engines and about 70 firefighters on the scene at Nestles Avenue in Hayes.

About 150 people have been evacuated from surrounding properties and a 200-metre cordon has been put in place as a precaution.

Assistant commissioner Pat Goulbourne said: “This is a highly visible and significant incident, and our firefighters are working tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible.

“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.”

Firefighters led 29 people from surrounding properties to safety.

The brigade said nearly 200 calls had been received in relation to the incident with crews from Hayes, Heathrow, Hillingdon, Southall and surrounding areas on the scene.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X there was a large-scale power outage in the area impacting more than 16,300 homes.

“We’re aware of a widespread power cut affecting many of our customers around the Hayes, Hounslow and surrounding areas,” it said.

Emergency services were called to the scene at 11.23pm on Thursday. The cause of the fire was yet to be determined.

Goulbourne said firefighters urged people to take safety precautions as crews worked to extinguish the blaze. “This will be a prolonged incident, with crews remaining on scene throughout the night,” he said.

“As we head into the morning, disruption is expected to increase, and we urge people to avoid the area wherever possible.”

More soon …