Heathrow Airport will be closed throughout Friday over a "significant" power outage linked to a fire at a nearby electrical substation that supplies it, reports the BBC.

The airport, which is the UK's busiest, has warned of "significant disruption" over the coming days and told passengers not to travel "under any circumstances" until it reopens.

The fire at the substation in Hayes, west London, has left thousands of homes without power and 150 people have been evacuated from surrounding properties.

Emergency services were first called to the scene at 23:23 GMT, and video shared on social media showed tall flames and smoke billowing from the substation overnight.

At least 1,351 flights to and from Heathrow will be affected on Friday, flight tracking website Flightradar24 said on X, with some 120 affected aircraft already in the air when the closure was announced.

A Heathrow Airport spokesperson said: "To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23:59 on 21 March 2025."

"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," they added.

"Whilst fire crews are responding to the incident, we do not have clarity on when power may be reliably restored."

The airport has apologized for the disruption and has advised passengers to contact their airlines for further information.