Heathrow shutdown is embarrassing at best – but at worst it points to serious vulnerabilities in UK infrastructure
An electrical substation fire and an entire airport shut down – with over 1,000 flights cancelled, others rerouted worldwide, and 200,000 passengers affected by the disruption.
The Heathrow closure on Friday really highlights the ‘critical’ part of critical national infrastructure (CNI) – the systems and facilities that are essential for society to function.
At best it’s an embarrassment. At worst, it points to serious vulnerabilities across the country that could be exploited by bad actors.
Heathrow first.
Heathrow needs a lot of power, the equivalent of a small town, and the bulk of this is supplied by a dedicated connection at the North Hyde substation – reflecting Heathrow’s critical status.
But that also appears to be the problem – because Heathrow requires so much power, having a second dedicated connection would likely be prohibitively expensive, especially for the low probability scenario of such a catastrophic fire. This is the first time this has happened in decades, after all.
“Fires like this are not common at all,” said Dr Robin Preece, a reader in future power systems at the University of Manchester. “If it just broke down without catching fire… you might never have noticed anything as we have sufficient alternative routes for the electricity to follow.”
The fire at the North Hyde electrical substation. Pic: @JoselynEMuirhe1
But uncommon doesn’t mean impossible – and when infrastructure is critical, it’s supposed to be protected.
MI5 in charge of critical infrastructure protection
The organisation ultimately responsible is MI5, through the National Protective Security Authority. This lists 13 national infrastructure sectors, from chemicals to nuclear, emergency services to food, space to water.
It’s a lot to look after – this map shows just some of the sites that would be considered CNI. Airports and power stations. Or the tubes that supply us with energy (gas and fuel pipelines) and internet (undersea cables).
Many of those risks are collected in the National Risk Register. This plots the likelihood and the impact of a risk.
Measuring risk chances and impact
So an accidental fire or explosion at an onshore fuel pipeline is estimated to have less than a 0.2% chance of happening in the next two years but would have only a “moderate” impact, defined as between 41-200 casualties and/or hundreds of millions of pounds in economic losses.
A civil nuclear accident has a similar probability but would have a “catastrophic” impact, defined as the loss of more than 1,000 lives and/or an economic cost of tens of billions of pounds. Pandemics also meet the catastrophic impact threshold.
A regional failure of the electricity network, one due perhaps to “a specific power substation”, is listed as having a 1% to 5% chance of happening every two years, and a moderate impact. But this is what happened to Heathrow – and the impact doesn’t appear moderate at all.
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The electrical substation in west London. Pic: PA
Catalogue of vulnerabilities
The National Risk Register is sensible planning but it’s also a catalogue of vulnerabilities.
Accidents do happen, but so do attacks. It can be hard to tell the difference – and that’s the point of what are known as “grey zone” attacks.
For example, undersea cables keep unfortunately being cut, whether in the Baltic Sea or the waters around Taiwan.
Taiwan has accused China of doing this deliberately. China responded by saying that damage to undersea cables is a “common maritime accident”.
Taiwanese coastguard in February prepares to board a cargo ship suspected of severing an undersea communications cable. Pic: AP
“Malicious actors see opportunities and vulnerabilities”, Marco Wyss, Professor of International History and Security at Lancaster University, told Sky News.
“And if you showcase vulnerabilities to such an extent as today, even if it wasn’t a malicious actor, it can give them some ideas.”
Additional reporting by Sophia Massam, junior digital investigations journalist
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
Read more:
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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