The Heathrow Airport in London was forced to shut down for the entire day after a large fire was reported at a nearby electricity substation. This has caused massive chaos and affected thousands of passengers. Besides those who were hoping to take off for their destinations from Heathrow, there were those who were already on planes bound for one of the busiest airports.

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A Flightradar24 photo shows 120 planes scrambling for a place to land, changing their destinations and taking u-turns. These planes were already in the air, bound for the airport, when the decision to shut down the airport for the day was taken. The map reflects the massive turmoil the fire has caused for airlines and passengers alike.

Also Read: London's Heathrow airport, one of world's busiest, closed due to power outage

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The shutdown has affected at least 220,000 passengers not only in Britain but around the world. 

Flights returning to origin points

The tracking site further says that a total of 1,357 flights would be affected, either being cancelled, diverted, or delayed, including 679 flying in and 678 going out of Heathrow. Several flights were rerouted to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Lyon, and other European cities. However, some of them were forced to turn around and return to their places of origin, including those flying in from New York, Mumbai, and Delhi.

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Meanwhile, the fire at the substation is now under control. An investigation has been launched into the incident. Passengers have been warned not to travel to Heathrow under any circumstances. 

"To maintain the safety of our passengers and colleagues, we have no choice but to close Heathrow until 23h59 on 21 March 2025," Heathrow said in a statement.

'Absolutely apocalyptic' fire near Heathrow

A driver who witnessed the fire last night told Sky News that it was "absolutely apocalyptic".

"The sky was darkening and it was just a scene that was chaotic. It looked like something out of a movie," Adeel Anwar said.

"We expect significant disruption over the coming days and passengers should not travel to the airport under any circumstances until the airport reopens."

People are shocked to see that the failure of only one electricity substation has left Heathrow completely paralysed. Tim Green, an expert, talking to Sky News, said that it is a "really unusual" situation. Green said the substation was "one of the large ones in the country" and fixing the affected equipment could take months.