Thousands of passengers are facing delays and cancellations after Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, was forced to close following a fire at a nearby substation.
Travellers heading to weddings, the Arctic Circle, rugby matches and birthdays have been left scrambling to find alternatives.
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Runways deserted as substation fire is put out
Around 1,357 flights have been affected, according to data from Flight Radar.
Image: Adventurer Jordan Wylie during his training in Sweden. Pic: Kate Knight, Army Cadets Media
Jordan Wylie MBE told Sky News he is sleeping in the snow tonight after his flight home from northern Sweden was cancelled.
The adventurer was training for an Antarctic expedition where he will attempt to climb a series of unclimbed and unnamed peaks in aid of the Army Cadets Charity.
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Image: Adventurer Jordan Wylie will sleep in his tent in northern Sweden tonight after his flight home was cancelled. Pic: Kate Knight, Army Cadets Media
However, his training has been extended by one more day because of the Heathrow chaos and he will sleep in his tent again.
He will now have to fly “from Northern Sweden to Stockholm to Frankfurt to Heathrow but not for at least 24 hours”, according to representatives he’s spoken to from Scandinavia Airlines (SAS).
Long-awaited best friend’s wedding
One woman in Minneapolis said her husband would miss his best friend’s wedding after their flight was turned around over the Atlantic Ocean.
Image: A passenger checks her phone as she waits to fly to Toronto via Heathrow International Airport. Pic: Reuters
“This wedding is a huge deal because it got postponed due to Covid, then their toddler got leukaemia,” she said.
“Now the wedding is finally happening. We are so gutted,” she said, adding it was the family’s first international flight.
“We are back in our car in Minneapolis heading home at 2.40am with our toddlers wide awake in the back seat wondering why we aren’t in London.”
“Absolute shambles” says passenger heading back for new job
Image: Lloyd Mcbratney and his girlfriend on their trip to the Philippines, which has ended in confusion. Pic: Lloyd Mcbratney
Lloyd Mcbratney described “panic and confusion” on his flight from Kuwait to Heathrow when the plane “suddenly U-turned without explanation”.
He and his girlfriend were travelling back from a trip to the Philippines but are now waiting at an airport hotel in Kuwait.
Image: A flight map shows the Kuwait to Heathrow flight turning around. Pic: Lloyd Mcbratney
“We have no idea when we will be going back home, 0 guidance, 0 communication,” he told Sky News.
To make matters worse, Mr Mcbratney starts a new job on Monday.
“Absolute shambles,” he said.
Rugby juniors missing out on ‘trip of a lifetime’
Alex Wiffen says the London Irish Under 12s rugby team have had the “trip of a lifetime” to Dublin thrown into disarray.
Forty-five girls and boys were supposed to graduate from minis to their first junior rugby games this weekend after fundraising for the trip for a year, he said.
Image: A passenger waits for information about his flight to Heathrow. Pic: Reuters
“It’s a trip that’s been happening for 40 years and it’s the inaugural trip for the girls’ team,” says Alex.
“Our flights at 8am this morning were cancelled and now there is no way to get to Dublin.”
The players and 70 parents are now just “praying we can get there ASAP” before their first match against Clontarf Rugby Club tomorrow morning.
Stuck at Manchester airport
Image: Nigel and Pam Turner
Nigel and Pam Turner have been diverted into Manchester Airport from Heathrow after they flew out from Dubai.
They were expecting to land at Heathrow at 7am – but are now stuck waiting in Manchester Airport until 7pm for an onward flight to Guernsey, which they paid for themselves.
The couple said they only found out what had happened while they were in the air – when they saw the couple in front had the news on their screens, and realised there had been a fire affecting Heathrow.
It wasn’t until the plane was over the English Channel they found out they would actually be landing in Manchester.
Speaking from a coffee shop at T2 arrivals, they said they were in good spirits, but hoping to find somewhere comfortable to wait out the nine hours before their flight out. “C’est la vie” Nigel said. “Nothing we can do about it”.
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5:14
Heathrow: What can passengers do?
Husky-sledding in the Arctic Circle
John Climpson said he was up at 3am to fly out to the north of Sweden to start a 240km husky sledding challenge in the Arctic Circle.
“Now the whole trip might be cancelled,” he said.
“Everyone is now desperately trying to rebook hotel rooms at the Terminal 2 Premier Inn.”
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0:32
Drone footage shows substation on fire
Confusion in Shanghai
A family of four coming home from a two-week tour of China said they found out their flight home was “delayed” at check-in at Shanghai airport.
Image: A sign at Shanghai airport informing passengers of the delay. Pic: Sohan Shah
After travelling from Beijing to Xi’an and Shanghai, Sohan Shah and his family, from Croydon, found confusing scenes at the airport.
“Due to the language barrier staff could not explain to us why, until we saw the Sky News report explaining the Heathrow fire,” said Mr Shah.
“[The airport staff] kept sending us back and forth to different counters where we have now been rebooked to a flight to London Gatwick at 1.30 in the morning,” he told Sky News.
“They eventually put us in a coach to a local hotel and provided food vouchers for the night,” he said.
From Derby to DC for 50th birthday
Virgin Atlantic passenger Andy was supposed to be flying from Heathrow to Washington DC today to start his 50th birthday celebrations.
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Airlines face £30m Heathrow bill
Instead, he is stuck in a hotel room he booked for last night to break up the travel day.
“I live in Derby – and I’m unsure whether to stay in London or go home and wait to hear more,” he said.
Heathrow has cancelled all flights until midnight on Friday.
U-turn to the US
Rafa, from London, was on a flight from Dallas when the pilot U-turned at 4am.
“Cannot believe that Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest and best airports, is not running on some sort of independent power to carry on operations,” he said.
“And the decision made to turn around to America is crazy considering how many flight options [there] are from Germany and France back to the UK.”
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Image: Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Image: Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Image: Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Image: Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Image: Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
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Image: Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
Image: JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
Image: A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
Image: A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
Image: JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Image: Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.