Heathrow Airport runway is closed: Grass fire 'to cause travel chaos'

Published: 18:46, 6 August 2026 | Updated: 18:57, 6 August 2026 Heathrow Airport closed one of its runways after a grass fire broke out. The blaze this evening has reportedly delayed and suspended several flights as flyers can expect travel chaos. The runway has since been reopened after a reported four fire engines put out the flames. A photograph taken from inside the terminal shows billows of smoke in the sky above the tarmac. The passenger wrote: 'There’s a fire near the runway at Heathrow which is delaying all flights.' One person commented below the image that they had been stuck waiting on the plane.  Another left waiting said: 'In airport. Pretty much all flights delayed still, some more than others.' A spokesperson said on X: 'Due to a grass area fire 27L has had to be temporarily closed and therefore we will be 27R single runway operations UFN.  'We are now expecting to get runway 27L back at 18:45hrs. We'll be departing on the southern runway 27L and arriving on runway 27R. Sorry for the inconvenience.' This is a breaking news story. More to come.