Heathrow Fire Spurs Wider UK Energy Outage Probe

A catastrophic fire at the North Hyde electrical substation near London Heathrow Airport in March 2025 led to a near day-long shutdown of the airport, disrupting over 270,000 passenger journeys and costing airlines millions. The fire was triggered by moisture entering a high-voltage bushing, a risk identified in 2018 but left unresolved after multiple deferrals of maintenance. Extensive power outages from the incident also affected local homes, businesses, and a hospital. An independent report criticized National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) for failing to implement corrective actions and highlighted that the substation's fire suppression system was inoperable. As a result, energy regulator Ofgem has launched an enforcement investigation into NGET for possible license breaches, and the UK government is reviewing energy resilience for critical infrastructure. The incident has raised serious concerns over the maintenance and resilience of the UK's energy and transport systems.