UK opens probe into Heathrow shutdown amid concerns over energy resilience
While Heathrow Airport said it was “fully operational” on Saturday, thousands of passengers remained stuck, and airlines warned that severe disruption will last for days as they scramble to relocate planes and crews and get travelers to their destinations This frame grab taken from a UGC video shot and posted on X on March 21, 2025 by @chrisjbrogan shows smoke billowing from a fire at a neighborhood electrical substation supplying power to Heathrow Airport in Hayes, west London. AFP The British government on Saturday ordered an investigation into the country’s “energy resilience” after an electrical substation fire shut Heathrow Airport for almost a day and raised concerns about the U.K.’s ability to withstand disasters or attacks on critical infrastructure. While Heathrow Airport said it was “fully operational” on Saturday, thousands of passengers remained stuck, and airlines warned that severe disruption will last for days as they scramble to relocate planes and crews and get travelers to their destinations. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said he’d asked the National Energy System Operator, which oversees U.K. gas and electricity networks, to “urgently investigate” the fire, “to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure."
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