Rozina Sini
BBC News

Image source, Emily Fisher

Emily Fisher and her three friends were due to board a 13:00 GMT flight to Budapest today.

"We got to the airport at 11:00, there were hundreds of people outside. They said the terminal was on lockdown, but the people at the airport telling us didn’t know anything," she says.

They were then told to go to the North Terminal, and Emily says hundreds of people started to make their way over.

"My friend had a lift to the airport and it took her half an hour to meet us from the south to the North Terminal as traffic was backed up. She wanted to leave the car and walk but was told she would not be allowed to leave he vehicle.

“There were police with machine guns. It was quite scary."

Emily and her friends are currently waiting for an taxi to take them to Luton Airport.

They say they had to pay £1,200 for all four of them to travel to Budapest tonight.

As we've been reporting, large numbers of people have been evacuated from Gatwick's South Terminal, with some saying they have been waiting outside for hours in the cold.

According to the Met Office, it's about 6C there currently, but feels like 2C.

As you can see in the video below, authorities have been handing out thermal blankets to some of those stranded.

Deirdre Finnerty
Reporting from Gatwick Airport

I’ve just arrived at Gatwick Airport's North Terminal, where crowds of passengers are waiting to board the shuttle to the South Terminal.

To get here, I got a train to Horley and walked part of the way to the airport, before another group of travellers offered me a space in their Uber.

People I have spoken to have said their flights are being delayed rather than cancelled. Security staff have been here for three hours, advising passengers on when the next shuttle to the South Terminal will depart.

So far, they have not been given any details as to when the terminal will re-open.

Eva, 31, is heading to Rome on a WizzAir flight she booked earlier this morning. She still hopes she’ll get there eventually.

“This was a last minute trip so I rushed to get here, only to find out that it’s crazy.

“I should have checked the news before I booked,” she says.

Nick Johnson
Reporting from Gatwick

As we've been reporting, Sussex Police says it has found a suspected prohibited item in some luggage.

We don’t have any more details as to what that item might be, but it is clearly causing significant enough alarm for the authorities to decide to close a large proportion of this airport.

At the moment, this operation is being led by police. There is no suggestion that counter-terror officers are involved.

Gabriele Lecce was supposed to be flying to Rome today, from Gatwick Airport's South Terminal.

“I got there at 10am and saw that a section was already shut down," he tells the BBC.

He was told there was an issue when he arrived at departures and saw that only one queue was open for entry.

“Fifteen minutes later, we saw the police coming and they evacuated us," he says.

“We've been waiting outside for roughly 2 hours and have been informed that there's no way to determine when the problem will be fixed.

“We are freezing out here.”

Gatwick Airport has just issued an updated statement

"The South Terminal remains closed as a precaution while we continue to investigate a security incident," it says. "Passengers are not able to enter the South Terminal while this is ongoing and trains are not currently stopping at Gatwick Airport."

The airport goes on to say the "safety and security of our passengers and staff remains our top priority. Passengers should contact their airline for further information."

As a reminder, Gatwick says it will continue to answer passengers questions on its X account. , external

• London Gatwick Airport's South Terminal was evacuated at 10:55 GMT this morning following a "security incident"
• The North Terminal remains unaffected
• Sussex Police issued a statement saying an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was dispatched to the airport "as a precaution" following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage
• Gatwick has advised passengers to check with their airline if they are due to fly from the airport today
• National Rail announced that no services will stop at the airport as police continue to investigate the incident - they expect the disruption to continue until around 14:00 GMT
• More than 300 flights are scheduled to depart from Gatwick's north and south terminals today
• Passengers say they are "waiting with no guarantees" as to when they will be able to travel

Onur Erem
Reporting from Gatwick Airport

I was about to arrive to the Gatwick Airport at 10:40 by train when the driver announced that he won't be able to let us go at Gatwick because of "a security incident".

We got off at Horley and it was chaos as the little train station wasn’t able to handle a such a passenger load.

The local buses go Gatwick were on hold as well and Ubers were charging around £50 for a 5-10 minutes' drive.

I managed to get a minicab, only to see that police blocked the roads going to the South Terminal.

I arrived to the North Terminal, hoping to take the shuttle, but it's been closed since I arrived here around 11:30.

Hundreds of people are waiting, sitting in corners, hoping to catch their flights. I've chatted with people, who were excited to see their friends after years until a few hours ago, now feeling upset.

People keep asking questions to the security and the police but there are no clear answers.

Insaf Abbas
Reporting from Gatwick Airport

One passenger, called Caitlin, told me she was due to fly to New York today - but is now waiting outside Gatwick South Terminal after being evacuated.

She said she was making her way through security when staff suddenly asked everyone to leave.

"They started shouting to leave via the nearest exit, and everyone started panicking a bit," she told me.

"They haven't told us anything which is a bit disconcerting, but they keep moving us further and further away.”

She's since seen police cars and explosive search dogs arriving, with staff handing out heat packs and foil because of the cold weather.

Gatwick is the UK's second largest airport, behind Heathrow, and serves around 40 million passengers each year. It first became an aerodrome in the 1930s but the transport hub we know today was opened in 1958.

The airport is around 28 miles south of central London in West Sussex, on its border with Surrey.

There are two terminals - North and South - and flights operate from the airport's single main runway, although Gatwick is currently seeking planning permission to bring its second runway into routine use. A final decision on that plan is expected early next year.

Last year, there were 253,000 aircraft movements from the airport with easyJet being the biggest airline, serving 19 million passengers.

The airport's dedicated railway station is connected to the South Terminal, and a free shuttle service can take passengers between there and the North Terminal.

EasyJet has just issued a statement about the ongoing security situation at Gatwick Airport's South Terminal.

The airline says the majority of its flights operate from the North Terminal, which remains unaffected, with one flight due to depart from the south terminal this afternoon, and seven further departures in the evening.

"Due to the evacuation of the South Terminal at London Gatwick no trains are currently stopping at the airport.

"Whilst the majority of our flying is at the North Terminal where our schedule is operating normally, we are advising customers travelling to and from the airport today to check our flight tracker and with National Rail for the latest information about their journey to and from the airport, or plan an alternative route.

"Anyone travelling to or from London Gatwick South Terminal today whose plans have been affected by the terminal evacuation can contact our customer service team for assistance with their options."

Tell us about your experience at Gatwick Airport today. You can get in touch in the following ways:

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Jon Hunt from Cambridge arrived at Gatwick South Terminal this morning for his 14:00 GMT flight to Florida.

He says he checked in without a problem but after around 10 minutes in the security queue upstairs, everyone was stopped and staff asked for the floor to be cleared.

“We were guided downstairs, nobody told us why. We were waiting for about 20 minutes [downstairs] on the check-in floor before someone said everyone here has to leave," he says.

Earlier he saw police with dogs entering the terminal. Jon believes the incident happened on the security bag check level; he said that floor was evacuated at least 20 minutes earlier than the one below.

“There are now hundreds of people standing in the cold not knowing what's going on," he says.

Passenger information site National Rail Enquiries is also advising people to avoid travelling to Gatwick Airport station whilst the incident is ongoing.

"Services are able to run through the station and area but will not call at Gatwick airport at this time.

"Please avoid travelling to the station whilst this incident is ongoing," it says.

"This is expected to continue until approximately 14:00 GMT."

Prior to the wider evacuation of the South Terminal, Gatwick had been telling passengers on X that part of the terminal's security search area was closed "while we investigate a security incident".

In posts before 10:00 GMT,, external passengers were being told they could still pass through security but to expect some queues.

Travel journalist Simon Calder tells the BBC that London Gatwick is "the UK's second busiest airport, and today there would be around 100,000 passengers flying in and out".

About half of those passengers would be using the south terminal, he says.

"This morning, someone passing through the security check had an item which raised very serious security concerns," he continues.

As a result of that, the entire South Terminal "land side" - the area in the airport before the security check - was closed, and that includes the railway station which is built into the south terminal.

Airlines using the south terminal include British Airways, Veuling Airlines of Spain, Hungarian airline WizzAir, Air Malta, and RyanAir and many others. Easyjest has a small presence there, he says, but mainly uses the North Terminal.

Calder continues: "Flights are still landing. But if they are landing at the South Terminal, people are going to the gate as normal, but then they are not getting out on the air bridge and walking out into international arrivals, they are being put on busses to the north terminal to be processed there."

"That will mean lots of crowd building up," he says, "and they can't leave the North Terminal to go to the station.

"And so you have this very, very difficult situation of thousands of people waiting outside South Terminal waiting for their flights and thousands leaving the North Terminal, not really sure how they are going to move on."

According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, 316 flights are scheduled to depart from Gatwick Airport today.

That's over 60,650 seats in total, but not necessarily as many people, as all the seats may not be occupied.

A further 318 flights are scheduled to arrive into the airport - which is 61,400 seats.

This is data for both the south and north terminals. The North Terminal is currently unaffected by the security incident.

As we reported earlier, Gatwick Airport is actively responding to passengers questions on its X account. , external

The latest advice is that if you are travelling from London Gatwick today, check the status of your flight with your airline.

As a reminder, the airport's North Terminal remains unaffected by the incident.

Stay with us for live updates, and Gatwick Airport's X account will also continue to update passengers.

We've just had a statement from Sussex Police, saying that they have dispatched an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to the airport "as a precaution".

"Police were called to the South Terminal at Gatwick Airport at 8.20am on Friday following the discovery of a suspected prohibited item in luggage.

"To ensure the safety of the public, staff and other airport users, a security cordon has been put in place whilst the matter is dealt with," the statement says.

"This is causing significant disruption and some roads around the South Terminal have been closed. We'd advise the public to avoid the area where possible."

Image source, Laurence Kemball-Cook

As we've been reporting, a large section of Gatwick Airport's South Terminal has been evacuated this morning due to a security incident.

Passengers have been unable to enter the South Terminal since 10:55 GMT.

Laurence Kemball-Cook, who was due to fly Portugal, says he and his family faced delays of up to 90 minutes getting through security.

"We were sitting there waiting for a slightly delayed flight and one of the staff rushes over and says, ‘you’ve got to evacuate right now’. So I sprinted down the corridor, picked up my partner and the baby who were changing, and then they were rushing everyone out the main terminal," he says.

"We are now waiting with no guarantees of when it’s going to leave."