Fire at Heathrow airport leads to runway closure and travel delays

Smoke seen rising from grass outside a terminal

Fire at Heathrow airport leads to runway closure and travel delays

A runway at Heathrow was briefly closed due to a grass fire, delaying flights.

A photograph shared on social media showed smoke rising into the sky, seen from a passenger terminal.

The blaze was a grass area fire which led the runway to be temporarily closed, according to a Heathrow Runways account.

Departures were suspended for a while, Aviation News UK reported.

GD Travel News said Heathrow used the north runway for both arrivals and departures, while the grass area by the south runway was dampened down to make safe and emergency vehicles were cleared.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Earlier our teams responded to a small grass fire adjacent to the southern runway. The fire has been extinguished, both runways are operational and flights continue to arrive and depart from the airport.

“We apologise for any disruption caused as a result or while emergency services completed their safety checks but this was essential to ensure the safety of our passengers and colleagues, which is paramount.”