Heathrow Airport live: Terminal evacuated due to ‘possible hazardous materials’

National Rail issued a statement saying that trains were unable to call at Heathrow Terminal 4 due to an incident, although services to the airport were already disrupted due to the London Underground strikes.

Heathrow said on Sunday: “London Underground strike action between Sunday 7 September until Friday 12 September – tube services will be severely disrupted, with little to no service expected. “Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line and bus services are running as normal. Please plan your journey carefully before travelling to the airport.”

London Heathrow is the UK’s busiest airport, and just last month it recorded its busiest day ever.

The airport saw more than a quarter of a million passengers passing through its four terminals – a total of 270,869 passengers – on 1 August.

It came after a month in which it saw almost no growth in passenger numbers, which executives said was due to capacity constraints.

The UK’s busiest airport said that 7,981,137 passengers flew in and out of the terminals in July.

That is compared with 7,980,455 during July 2024.

According to Heathrow airport’s website, flights from the affected terminal are still scheduled to depart on time, with only one delay to a Saudia airline flight to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia currently expected.

National Rail has issued a statement saying that “trains are unable to call at Heathrow Terminal 4 due to the emergency services dealing with an incident”.

All other terminals are operating as normal, Heathrow airport has said as terminal 4 has been closed and evacuated while emergency services respond to an incident.

London Fire Brigade has said specialist crews have been deployed to carry out an assessment of the scene and the terminal has been evacuated as a precaution.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson has told The Independent: “Firefighters are responding to a possible hazardous materials incident at Heathrow Airport.

“Specialist crews have been deployed to carry out an assessment of the scene, and Terminal 4 has been evacuated as a precaution whilst firefighters respond.

“The Brigade was first called about the incident at 1701, and crews from Feltham, Heathrow, Wembley and surrounding fire stations have been sent to the scene.”

Heathrow Airport released the following statement on X: “Terminal 4 check-in has been closed and evacuated while emergency services respond to an incident.

“Please do not travel to Terminal 4, colleagues are supporting passengers on site. We will provide further information as soon as we can, all other terminals are operating as normal.”