How many flights have been affected and where are they going?published at 20:34 Greenwich Mean Time 21 March

20:34 GMT 21 March

By Rob England, Wesley Stephenson and Krystina Shveda

Nearly 1,400 flights have been disrupted by the closure of Heathrow Airport today, according to the latest information from air traffic website flightradar24.com.

As of 16:45, it says:

• 1,155 flights have been cancelled
• 120 have been diverted
• 26 are still showing as “scheduled”
• 13 are still being given estimated arrival times
• 2 are showing as delayed

For those diverted, Amsterdam and Gatwick airports are still the most common destination so far.

Just under half of the flights affected belong to British Airways, according to the data.

Virgin Atlantic is the next most affected, with 69 flights, followed by Lufthansa.

The website says the live figures are gathered using multiple sources and are subject to change throughout the day.

One of the busiest international airports in the world came to a standstill earlier following a fire at a nearby substation.

Far from its usual bustle, the pictures below capture the eerie quiet that descended over Heathrow during the hours-long power outage:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Following the statement from the LFB, the Met Police issues its own update to say that the fire is not being treated as suspicious after an initial assessment.

But, it adds, "inquiries do remain ongoing" and the investigation into the cause of the fire is in its "early stages".

Cdr Simon Messinger, who's leading the Met's response, says the force's counter-terrorism command are "leading inquiries" due to the "specialist resources and capabilities" it has that can help progress the investigation and "minimise disruption".

"Various specialist investigators continue to examine the scene and it is expected to take some time before full assessments can be completed," he adds.

"At this stage, there remains no indication of any foul play."

More now on the statement from the London Fire Brigade.

Fire safety officers are at the scene to follow up various lines of inquiry, with work continuing in the coming weeks, it says.

It ends with thanks to firefighters and control officers "for their courage and professionalism in bringing this incident under control in what were very challenging circumstances".

The London Fire Brigade says the fire at an electricity substation which caused Heathrow Airport to close is believed to be non-suspicious.

In a new statement, it says the investigation will focus on the "electrical distribution equipment".

We'll bring you more on this shortly.

Here's some footage of this morning's blaze:

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says there will be "lessons learned" from today's closure of Heathrow Airport.

A spokesperson says the authority regulates the airport from a "safety perspective" and to protect consumers.

The aviation regulator says Heathrow must work with other parties at the airport to manage the incident and recover from it.

"There will of course be lessons learned from this event."

The fire and power cut "highlights the need for infrastructure operators to be fully prepared for dealing with short-term shocks," says Sir John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.

He says his organisation has been clear that the UK "needs national resilience standards for our transport, digital, energy and water infrastructure".

These standards will give clarity to both operators and users on what kind of service they should expect, he adds.

Armitt says they will also "ensure regulators have a clear yardstick against which they can ensure sufficient investment in resilience is made, proportionate to the risk".

Restrictions on overnight flights have been temporarily lifted to help ease congestion following the closure of Heathrow Airport, the Department for Transport said in a post on X.

Asha Patel
BBC News

Image source, Steve Bruce

A group of friends who went to the US to celebrate St Patrick's Day have had to keep the party going in Ireland after their flight was diverted.

Steve and his friends, from Derby, were flying home when, just before landing at Heathrow, they were told they were being diverted to Shannon.

The group – who say airport staff have been "fantastic" – will now have to wait until Saturday to fly home from Knock to East Midlands Airport.

For now, Steve says they're looking forward to a nice day out and finding a bar.

"We're just going to have a day out. We're all shattered but we've just got to carry on now."

• The first flight has landed at Heathrow after a fire at a nearby electricity substation forced the airport to close
• Heathrow Airport will be "back in full operation" tomorrow, says chief executive Thomas Woldbye
• Incoming flights from Europe are being prioritised this afternoon, with some outgoing flights this evening
• He apologised for the disruption caused by the fire, which led to a major power loss equal to a "mid-size city"
• British Airways says eight long-haul flights have been cleared to leave Heathrow tonight
• Virgin Atlantic expects to run a "near full schedule" tomorrow
• The National Grid says it has found an "interim solution" to restore power, and there are reports that Terminal 4 is back on
• Counter-terrorism police are investigating the fire, but the Met Police say there's "currently no indication of foul play"

A live shot of a runway at Heathrow Airport shows the first plane landing after a fire at a nearby electricity substation forced it to close earlier today.

The British Airways plane touched down just after 18:00 GMT.

Image source, EBU

Virgin Atlantic says it expects to run 'near full schedule' tomorrow, including flights landing at Heathrow.

The airline says the substation fire had a "significant impact" and all flights due to leave Heathrow today are cancelled.

It has also shared the current list of cancelled flights for 22 March:

• VS026 New York JFK to Heathrow
• VS450 Johannesburg to Heathrow
• VS165 Heathrow to Jamaica

For those affected, staff will email customers with rebooking details, Virgin Atlantic says.

Image source, EPA

Woldbye apologises to passengers for today's disruption, saying it was caused by "outside factors".

He's asked who will pay for the costs of the disruption.

The CEO says: "There are procedures in place for that," adding that the airport doesn't have "liabilities in place" for incidents like what happened today.

That's all from Thomas Woldbye for now. We'll bring you a summary of the key points shortly.

Woldbye then explains what has taken time for Heathrow to handle the issue today.

He says shutting down the system and starting it back up takes a long time.

He adds that, apart from anyone getting hurt, this incident is "as big as it gets" for Heathrow.

In fact, he says, the airport is recovering "quite fast" given the number of systems involved.

On backup supplies, which have been questioned today, he says Heathrow has three substations with a back-up transformer.

After the fire, his teams had to rebuild the airport's supply, meaning "thousands of systems" had to be restarted and tested.

Woldbye apologises to those whose travel plans were affected today and thanks everyone involved in restoring the airport’s operations.

He describes it as an “unprecedented incident” that caused a major power loss equivalent to “a mid-size city”.

He says they would only close the airport due to “severe safety concerns.”

The CEO of Heathrow Airport is then asked what the situation will be like there tomorrow.

"We expect to be back in full operation ... as a normal day," he says.

He adds that passengers should come to Heathrow "normally" as they planned.

Image source, EPA

We're hearing from Thomas Woldbye, chief executive of Heathrow Airport.

He is asked what he expects this evening.

He says incoming flights from Europe will be prioritised this afternoon, followed by some departures from Heathrow in the evening.

"That is about it," he says. "We're talking about very few aircraft tonight."

Andrew Dawkins
BBC West Midlands

Image source, Getty Images

Up to 100 pupils are stranded in Spain after Heathrow's closure disrupted their journey back to the UK.

The year 5 pupils from Nuneaton were due to fly home from Barcelona today.

Now, head teacher Diane Compton-Belcher is looking for another airline to bring them back tonight.

If that’s not possible, she tells BBC Coventry and Warwickshire Radio that she and her 10 staff members will "do our very best to get them back tomorrow".

For now, the children are making the most of their time on the beach.

More now from British Airways, which has just announced it has clearance for eight long-haul flights to leave Heathrow this evening.

It says it is "urgently contacting customers to let them know so they can make their way to the airport" from 17:00 GMT.

BA says the only customers who should make their way to the airport are those booked onto the following flights:

• BA055 to Johannesburg
• BA057 to Johannesburg
• BA011 to Singapore
• BA259 to Riyadh
• BA045 to Cape Town
• BA059 to Cape Town
• BA015 to Sydney via Singapore
• BA249 to Buenos Aires via Rio de Janeiro

British Airways has been given clearance for eight long-haul flights to depart Heathrow Airport today from 19:00 GMT, the airline says in a statement.

We'll bring you more from the update shortly.