Chaos as Heathrow Airport closed for whole day by fire

London's Heathrow Airport, one of the world's busiest, was closed for the whole day Friday after a fire tore through one it its electrical substations. Power to two terminals and thousands of nearby homes is out and the blaze is yet to be doused.

"Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, warns of days of disruption – more than 1,350 flights are thought to be affected today," writes Rich Preston. "Hotels and pubs near the airport are packed with stranded passengers desperate for news."

The luckiest incoming passengers are being diverted to nearby Gatwick Airport, but most will end up in Paris, Frankfurt or even farther afield. Many flights are simply turning back in mid-air rather than end up circling northern Europe all day burning fuel.

The prime minister's spokesman has said "there are questions to answer" over how a fire knocked out Heathrow.

Number 10 says "we expect those questions to be answered" but the priority is bringing the fire under control, adding it was too early to speculate on whether foul play was involved.

Downing Street could not say if it was confident the airport would reopen at midnight as planned, adding the prime minister is being kept updated.

A stunning lesson in the costs of cost-cutting: Europe's largest airport lacked sufficient backup power to supply the whole facility, so when its single point of failure failed the whole place had to be shut down at immeasurable expense.

From John Lloyd and Douglas Adams' Meaning of Liff:

AIRD OF SLEAT (n. archaic) Ancient Scottish curse placed from afar on the stretch of land now occupied by Heathrow Airport.