Heathrow Airport has said it will resume some flights later today after a fire at a nearby electrical substation forced the airport to close.

Emergency services were called to put out the flames and 150 people have been evacuated from nearby homes.

In a statement, Airport officials have said they will be operating repatriation flights and relocating aircraft.

However, passengers have been advised not to travel to the airport, unless directed to by an airline.

The British National Grid has said it has restored power across Heathrow Airport - at least temporarily.

Anti-terror police are leading the investigation into a nearby substation fire, which was the reason that forced the west London hub to close.

200,000 passengers have been left stranded.

7,000 people were affected by cancellations at Dublin and Cork airports, with 34 flights between Dublin Airport and Heathrow cancelled today.

Stranded passengers at Heathrow Terminal 5 in London. Friday March 21, 2025. Image: Alamy

DAA Media Relations Manager Graeme McQueen said they expect the disruption to last into the weekend.

“The Heathrow routes are always really, really busy on the weekend - you've got a lot of people heading away for sports matches and events, concerts, things like that,” he said.

“You've also got a lot of people heading away on connecting flights.

“People would use the Dublin to Heathrow route to connect onto places like India, Asia, Australia - so it's having a big impact on those guys.

“We're really hopeful, though, that the airlines can accommodate them on additional routes.”

Smoke billows after a fire broke out at the North Hyde Electricity Substation in Hayes, causing the nearby Heathrow Airport to close with thousands of flights affected. Credit: Vuk Valcic/Alamy Live News

Eight flights between Cork and Heathrow were cancelled today.

Barry Holland from Cork Airport has advised anyone impacted to contact Aer Lingus.

“All operations at Heathrow have been suspended and that means that both the service from Cork to Heathrow and then an onward connection will also be cancelled as well today,” he said.

“Obviously, our advice at this point in time is that for onward connections like that, whether they've booked through the Aer Lingus website or the British Airways website, to contact their airline directly for the latest and most up to date information.”

Passengers at Shannon Airport who have been affected by the Heathrow disruption have been bussed to hotels.

The airport accommodated six flights this morning, which were due to land in London.

They arrived from various airports including Atlanta, Toronto and Barbados.

A sign on the motorway shows Heathrow Closed as Britain's Heathrow Airport has closed. Friday, March 21, 2025.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Shannon Airport Director Niall Kearns said all other flights are operating as normal.

“It was quite a busy morning, you know, we had six diversions into Shannon as a result of the closure of Heathrow Airport,” he said.

“We're very pleased to be able to accommodate all of those passengers and the aircrafts into Shannon.

“I'm very pleased to say that, on top of that, we're operating as normal in terms of our own scheduled traffic as well.”

A sign at a tube station at Heathrow Airport in London. Friday March 21, 2025. Image: Alamy