Heathrow closure: Keir Starmer receiving 'regular updates'

Sir Keir Starmer said he is receiving "regular updates" about the fire that shut down Heathrow Airport as counter-terror police lead enquiries into its cause.

In a post on X, the prime minister acknowledged the "distress and disruption" caused by the blaze at the nearby electricity substation, which has left thousands of homes without power and resulted in at least 1,300 flights being cancelled.

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Sir Keir said: "I'm receiving regular updates and I'm in close contact with partners on the ground.

"Thanks to our emergency workers for keeping people safe."

Following the tweet, the Metropolitan Police confirmed they were taking the lead in investigating the fire's cause.

A spokesperson stressed there was no indication of foul play yet but "retain an open mind at this time".

They added: "Given the location of the substation and the impact this incident has had on critical national infrastructure, the Met's Counter Terrorism Command is now leading enquiries.

"This is due to the specialist resources and capabilities within that command that can assist in progressing this investigation at pace to minimise disruption and identify the cause."

The prime minister's official spokesperson cautioned against speculation when asked if foul play could be involved.

He also said that while the priority is getting the fire under control, there are questions to be answered on what can be done to prevent this in future and "as part of that it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect checks on resilience to be carried out".

Experts are alarmed by the scale of the fire, which happened after a transformer at a North Hyde substation caught alight, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

Earlier, energy secretary Ed Miliband told Sky News that while the cause "is not clear" a back-up generator that could have kept Heathrow open was affected by the fire.

Asked what this says about the safety of our critical infrastructure, Mr Miliband said he didn't want to "jump to conclusions" but added: "I understand it from the national grid there was a back-up generator, but that was also affected by the fire, which gives a sense of how unusual and unprecedented it was.

"There is a second back-up which they are seeking to use to restore power, so there are back-up mechanisms in place, but given the scale of this fire the back-up mechanisms also seem to have been affected."

Speaking later on Good Morning Britain, he said the National Grid told him they had not seen "anything like the scale" of what happened with the fire and admitted that Heathrow's closure makes the airport look "quite vulnerable".

Substation fire 'not common at all'

Dr Robin Preece, Reader in Future Power Systems at the University of Manchester, said the transformers at the substation are filled with oil so if they catch fire it makes the blaze "large and difficult to control".

He said fires like this are "not common at all" but the electricity grid "will have sufficient alternative supplies to get pretty much everyone back on supply very quickly".

Dr Preece said the substation is not the only one that supplies Heathrow but perhaps supplies "some of the more critical services at the airport".

He added: "To restore power, there will be some switching happening across the network to allow the electricity to find alternative paths to get to affected areas. "

Heathrow will remain shut until midnight because of the power outage caused by the fire.

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Tracking site Flightradar24 estimates 1,357 flights would be affected (679 into and 678 out of Heathrow) today, including around 120 which were already in the air this morning before the shutdown.

A number of flights were turned around and returned to airports in Canada and the United States, while Gatwick Airport accepted seven diverted flights.

Passengers have been warned to stay away from the airport and all trains to Heathrow have been suspended.

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A National Grid spokesperson said the fire had damaged equipment and they were "working at speed to restore power supplies as quickly as possible".

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

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

"We will provide an update when more information on the resumption of operations is available. 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."

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