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Heathrow Airport has reopened for a limited number of flights after a large fire at a nearby electrical substation disrupted travel for around 200,000 passengers.

Counter-terror police were leading the investigation into the cause of the blaze, which triggered a “significant power outage” that led to more than 1,000 flights to and from the airport being cancelled.

Heathrow’s boss apologised to passengers, describing the disruption “as big as it gets for our airport” and admitting “we cannot guard ourselves 100%”.

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In an update on Friday evening, the Metropolitan Police said the cause of the fire is believed to be non-suspicious, while the London Fire Brigade (LFB) announced its investigation will focus on the electrical distribution equipment.

Heathrow is expected to run a full schedule on Saturday.

Proximity of Heathrow to the electrical substation
Image:
The proximity of Heathrow to the electrical substation

The fire that caused the power outage is at the North Hyde substation in Hayes, about 1.5 miles to the north of the west London airport.

LFB received the first reports of the fire at 11.23pm on Thursday.

Heathrow initially announced the airport would be closed until 11.59pm on Friday but later said repatriation flights for passengers diverted to other airports in Europe would resume on Friday evening.

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Heathrow outage nearly ‘as big as it gets’

Several airlines announced they would restart scheduled flights both to and from Heathrow, including British Airways (BA), Air Canada and United Airlines.

A BA flight to Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, took off just before 9pm after a slight delay to its expected departure time.

Restrictions on overnight flights have also been temporarily lifted to help ease congestion, the Department of Transport said.

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Runways deserted as substation fire is put out

Pic: Flightradar24
Flightradar screengrab from post on X showing flights early on Friday morning heading to heathrow.
https://x.com/flightradar24/status/1902928403189096822/photo/1
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Flightradar24 showed up to 120 planes in the air would be forced to divert or turn back. Pic: Flightradar24/X

Airport disruption nearly ‘as big as it gets’

Heathrow Airport’s chief executive Thomas Woldbye told reporters the flights taking off on Friday evening would help make sure the airport has “operations in place” for Saturday morning.

He continued: “Tomorrow morning we expect to be back in full operation, so 100% operation as a normal day.”

Passengers arrive at Heathrow Airport as flights resume. Pic: AP
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Passengers arrive at Heathrow Airport as flights resume. Pic: AP

Mr Woldbye added that passengers who were planning to fly from Heathrow on Saturday should arrive at the airport in time for their flight as normal.

The chief executive also apologised to the passengers whose journeys had been disrupted but said he would not have closed down the airport unless there were “severe safety concerns”.

Photo taken with permission from the social media site X, formerly Twitter, posted by @JoselynEMuirhe1 of the fire at Hayes electrical substation. More than 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow Airport will be disrupted on Friday due to the closure of the airport following the fire. Issue date: Friday March 21, 2025.
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The height of the fire was described as ‘absolutely apocalyptic’. @JoselynEMuirhe1/X/PA

Firefighters extinguish the fire at the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night and lead to a closure of Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
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Pic: AP

Asked whether the disruption caused by the fire suggested there was a “weak point” in Heathrow’s operations, Mr Woldbye replied: “We can’t guard ourselves 100%. This has been a major incident.

“Short of anybody getting hurt, this is as big as it gets for our airport and we are actually coming back quite fast.”

He added: “This is unprecedented, it’s never happened before.”

It comes after Number 10 said earlier that there are questions to be answered about how the fire has caused so much chaos.

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Stranded passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5.
Pic: PA
Image:
Stranded passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5. Pic: PA

                Stranded passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5 in London. More than 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow Airport will be disrupted on Friday due to the closure of the airport following a fire at the North Hyde electrical substation last night. Picture date: Friday March 21, 2025.
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Pic: PA

Mr Woldbye said: “Our procedures have worked the way they should… Of course the prime minister should ask questions and we’ll be happy to answer them.”

Earlier, the airport said it expected “significant disruption over the coming days” and warned passengers “not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens”. All trains to Heathrow were suspended.

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Moment Heathrow substation ignites

Some power has returned to Terminal 4, with lights in the main building and lifts in the multi-storey car park operational again.

The disruption began late on Thursday night when fire crews were called to a blaze in west London at an electricity substation serving Heathrow and local properties.

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‘It’s all dark here, mate’: Fire cuts Heathrow power

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Thousands of passengers stranded

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports and had a record 83.9 million passengers last year, with a plane landing or taking off around every 45 seconds.

The figure, from the Civil Aviation Authority, is equivalent to about 229,000 passengers using the hub every day.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium told the New York Times that it believed as many as 290,000 passengers could have been affected on Friday – enough to fill Wembley Stadium three times.

The North Hyde electrical substation which caught fire last night. More than 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow Airport will be disrupted on Friday due to the closure of the airport following the fire. Picture date: Friday March 21, 2025.
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Smoke was continuing to rise above the North Hyde electrical substation this afternoon. Pic: PA

Smoke rises from a fire at the North Hyde Electricity Substation.
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Pools of what looks like foam surround the damaged substation. Pic: PA

Oil fire still alight at substation

LFB deputy commissioner Jonathan Smith told reporters at a news conference the fire involved a transformer – a key part of the substation – with 25,000 litres of cooling oil “fully alight”.

Firefighters at the North Hyde electrical substation which caught fire. More than 1,300 flights to and from Heathrow Airport will be disrupted on Friday due to the closure of the airport following the fire. Picture date: Friday March 21, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story FIRE Hayes. Photo credit should read: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
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Fire crews said the blaze was now under control. Pic: PA

Smoke rises from a fire at electricity substation.
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Aerial footage shows the scale of the damage the fire has done to the substation

Crews evacuated 29 people from neighbouring properties but there were no casualties.

In all, 67,000 households were left without power after the fire at the substation, but all supplies have been restored.

Earlier LFB said 10 engines and around 70 firefighters had been working to extinguish the blaze.

Pictures from the scene showed large flames and plumes of thick black smoke.

The LFB said in a statement that 5% of the fire was still alight as of 7pm on Friday.

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Police officer describes moment he was shot with crossbow – as attacker jailed

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Police officer describes moment he was shot with crossbow - as attacker jailed

A police officer has described the moment he was shot with a crossbow – as his “extremely dangerous” attacker was sentenced to nine years in jail.

Jason King, 54, fired the weapon at PC Curtis Foster after stabbing a neighbour, a man in his 60s, following an altercation in Downley, Wycombe, on 10 May last year.

PC Foster was struck in the leg by a crossbow bolt while King chased after him and his fellow unarmed officer.

Jason King armed with the crossbow chases the officer. Pic: Thames Valley Police
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Jason King armed with the crossbow chases the officer. Pic: Thames Valley Police

King stabbed his neighbour in the stomach following an altercation. Pic: Thames Valley Police
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King stabbed his neighbour in the stomach following an altercation. Pic: Thames Valley Police

“I knew something had impacted me, but my adrenaline was so high that the pain wasn’t really there,” PC Foster said.

“I first realised I was bleeding quite a lot when I could feel it running down my leg, and then I touched my leg with above my trousers, and my whole hand was red where it’d gone through my trousers already.”

PC Foster and his colleague cleared the area of civilians, while armed officers chased King to a local park.

King also fired the crossbow at a police dog but missed.

He was ordered to drop the weapon, but instead started running with it in hand towards the exit of the park to where PC Foster had escaped.

An armed officer fired one shot at King, striking him in the abdomen, to stop him.

PC Curtis Foster was hit in the leg by a crossbow bolt shot by King. Pic: Thames Valley Police
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PC Curtis Foster was hit in the leg by a crossbow bolt shot by King. Pic: Thames Valley Police

PC Foster.  Pic: Thames Valley Police
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PC Foster. Pic: Thames Valley Police

‘Covered in my blood’

As King was apprehended, paramedics and his fellow officers treated the seriously injured PC Foster.

“There was a lot of blood. My two colleagues that turned up initially on scene were covered in my blood – that’s how much blood I’d lost,” PC Foster said.

“When we got to the hospital, the doctor had a feel of it and said that I was really lucky it didn’t strike an artery. It was a couple of centimetres away from hitting an artery in the back of my leg.”

PC Foster has since made a full recovery, as did the neighbour King stabbed.

King himself was taken to hospital under police supervision with potentially life-changing injuries and was discharged 10 days later, when he was arrested and taken into police custody.

King was apprehended by armed police officers in a nearby park. Pic: Thames Valley Police
Image:
King was apprehended by armed police officers in a nearby park. Pic: Thames Valley Police

On Wednesday, King was jailed at Aylesbury Crown Court for nine years with a further three years on extended licence having previously pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding, having an article with a blade or point, having an offensive weapon, wounding with intent and affray regarding the incident.

“Jason King will now serve a substantial prison sentence as a result of his violent actions on 10 May 2024. The community and residents of Downley are much safer for it,” said senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Nick Hind.

He added: “The courage of our officers in dealing with this incident was second to none.”

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‘Significant threat to police’

DI Hind explained that the impact the incident had in the local community couldn’t be underestimated as King was “an extremely dangerous man, who posed a significant threat to police, other emergency services and members of the community”.

A mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct was made after the police shooting of King.

The IOPC, which concluded its investigation in November, commended “everybody involved in this incident”, according to DI Hind.

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Husband’s tribute to mother-of-two killed by falling tree branch in Blackburn

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Husband's tribute to mother-of-two killed by falling tree branch in Blackburn

A mother-of-two who died after being hit by a falling tree branch on the way home from a family outing would do “everything she could for anyone”, her husband has said.

Madia Kauser, 32, was walking with her family in Witton Park in Blackburn, Lancashire, on 11 August when the incident happened.

She is reported to have pushed her young daughter to safety.

A joint investigation is being carried out by Lancashire Police and the Health and Safety Executive and any witnesses are being asked to come forward.

In a tribute issued by police, her husband Wasim Khan described her as the “most beautiful woman in the world” and said he feels “completely lost without her”.

He said: “My wife, a mother-of-two, a daughter, sister and a friend we lost to a tragic event that came on the way home from a family day out in the park.

“She was the most beautiful woman in the world, she did everything for our two children, she did everything she could for anyone and would bring smiles whenever she entered the room.

“She was my comfort, my partner in life and the love of my life.

“We have so many great memories, went through pain together and started a family together.

“Honestly, I feel completely lost without her and I do not know how to put into words how much I miss her face, her character and her presence. My one and only.”

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Detective Inspector Iain Czapowski said: “This is an absolutely tragic incident which has cost a young woman her life and my thoughts are with her loved ones.

“We are working closely with our colleagues from the Health and Safety Executive and with the co-operation of the council to try and establish the full circumstances of what happened, and I would like to speak to anyone with information which could assist with that.

“I am especially keen to speak to anyone who actually saw what happened on that fateful night and I would urge them to contact us.”

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Kneecap rapper greeted by hundreds of supporters as he arrives at court on terror charge

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Kneecap rapper greeted by hundreds of supporters as he arrives at court on terror charge

A member of rap trio Kneecap was greeted by hundreds of supporters as he arrived at court this morning, charged with allegedly supporting a proscribed terror organisation.

Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year.

Demonstrators waving flags and holding banners in support of the rapper greeted him with cheers as he made his way into Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

The rapper is mobbed by fans and media as he arrives at court. Pics: PA
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The rapper is mobbed by fans and media as he arrives at court. Pics: PA

Supported by his Kneecap bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, it took the rapper more than a minute to enter the building as security officers worked to usher him inside through a crowd of photographers.

Fans held signs which read “Free Mo Chara”, while others waved Irish and Palestinian flags.

As the hearing got under way, O hAnnaidh confirmed his name, date of birth and address, with the court hearing an Irish language interpreter would be present.

During a previous hearing, prosecutors said the 27-year-old is “well within his rights” to voice his opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but said the alleged incident at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town was a “wholly different thing”.

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O hAnnaidh is yet to enter a plea to the charge.

Bandmates Naoise O Caireallain (pictured, centre) and JJ O Dochartaigh are supporting O hAnnaidh. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Bandmates Naoise O Caireallain (pictured, centre) and JJ O Dochartaigh are supporting O hAnnaidh. Pic: Reuters

Who are Kneecap?

Kneecap put out their first single in 2017 and rose to wider prominence in 2024 after the release of their debut album and an eponymously titled film – a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and their fight to save the Irish language.

The film, in which the trio play themselves and co-star alongside starring Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender, won the BAFTA for outstanding debut earlier this year, for director and writer Rich Peppiatt.

Last year, they won a discrimination case against the UK government after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was business secretary.

They are known for songs including H.O.O.D, Fine Art, and Better Way To Live, featuring Fontaines DC frontman Grian Chatten.

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