Heathrow Airport closed road access to Terminals 2 and 3 on 15 August 2026 after a burst water main caused significant flooding in the central terminal area. By Saturday afternoon the airport confirmed the roads had reopened and operations had returned to normal, though passengers travelling earlier in the day had been forced to rely on rail and Tube services instead of driving.
An airport spokesperson said the leak had been contained and that engineers were addressing the resulting damage.
Our teams are working to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, we apologise for any disruption caused.
The leak has been isolated and repairs are on-going.
Later, once access had been restored, a Heathrow spokesperson said: "Following earlier flooding in the central terminal area impacting access to Terminals 2 and 3, all roads have now reopened and the airport continues to operate as normal." The spokesperson added: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused and we thank passengers for following the advisories we had put in place while our teams worked to resolve the situation."
According to a national broadcaster's report, the flooding forced ongoing road closures around the two terminals, with travellers initially advised against driving and encouraged to rely on rail links instead. The problem was first discovered in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to a separate report, and is understood to have stemmed from a main leak beneath the Inner Ring Road West, according to further coverage of the incident. Neither Terminal 2 nor Terminal 3 was actually flooded, and flights were not disrupted, according to a report confirming the reopening.
How can passengers still reach the airport?
Those who had no choice but to travel by car were told to use the Park and Ride facility or route via Terminals 4 or 5, according to a report from a national newspaper. From there, free rail connections could be used to complete the journey. The same report notes that Heathrow's guidance specifically directed affected passengers towards the Heathrow Express, the Elizabeth Line and the Piccadilly Line as the preferred alternatives to driving. Access to car parks was also impeded during the disruption, leaving some people with parked vehicles unable to reach them.
How were passengers affected on the ground?
Julie Hamilton, 54, who was staying on the Isle of Sheppey and travelling from Heathrow to her home in New Jersey in the United States, said she had not been notified of the disruption by her airline and only learned of it when her father saw news reports. "Well I wasn't notified so I just had to go via Terminal 5 and get a train over here because I obviously can't get dropped to Terminal 2," she said, adding: "It's really frustrating... I have to be here three hours early and now I'm half an hour late." Not everyone experienced problems, however. Trish Macfarlane, 59, and Cindy Hastie, 65, arrived at Terminal 2 without incident after taking a taxi from Kensington. Macfarlane, who was travelling to Singapore, said she had seen news of the flooding on social media on the way to the airport but that the journey itself had been unaffected.
The consumer group Which? urged passengers to check their airline's policies and to avoid unnecessary travel while the disruption was ongoing. Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said: "Passengers heading to Heathrow today will understandably be worried, so it's important to follow the airport's advice and avoid travelling by road to Terminals 2 and 3, instead allowing extra time and using public transport where possible." He added that travellers concerned about missing flights should contact their airline promptly, since policies on rebooking and refunds vary, and that anyone unable to use pre-booked parking due to the closures should contact their provider or check their travel insurance for cover.
Why is this happening now?
The timing was particularly disruptive because it fell during the school summer holidays, traditionally one of the airport's busiest stretches. Heathrow recorded its busiest day of the year so far on 19 July 2026, when more than 267,000 passengers passed through as many schools broke up for summer. Heathrow is among the busiest airports in the world, handling as many as 1,300 takeoffs and landings a day.
Heathrow said the road restrictions stemmed from flooding across the wider central terminal area rather than being confined to the terminal buildings themselves, according to the same broadcaster's report.
Has this happened before?
This is not the first time flooding or water-related faults have disrupted travel to and from the airport. A burst pipe in May 2026 shut rail services to Heathrow for several hours, affecting the Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line and Piccadilly Line, while overnight storms in June 2026 caused further flooding and disrupted services across London, including at Heathrow. Separately, thunderstorms following a heatwave caused major flight delays and cancellations at Heathrow and Gatwick in June 2026. More recently, the airport was affected by a water leak that forced the closure of a rail tunnel, disrupting train services serving the site, a pattern of recurring water-related infrastructure issues, according to separate reporting on the tunnel closure.
What happens next?
Heathrow said its teams continued to work to resolve the situation as quickly as possible, though no confirmed timeframe for reopening road access had initially been given, according to the newspaper report. By Saturday afternoon, however, the airport confirmed that all roads to Terminals 2 and 3 had reopened and that operations were back to normal, according to the report confirming the reopening. The airport had said it was still investigating the cause of the flooding and assessing the extent of the damage to ensure its facilities remained safe, though no further scheduled update has been identified beyond confirmation that services had returned to normal.
Key Facts
- Flooding caused by a burst water main restricted road access to Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 from the early hours of 15 August 2026.
- Heathrow confirmed later on Saturday that all roads had reopened and the airport was operating normally.
- Neither terminal building was flooded and flights were not disrupted, though car park access was affected.
- Passengers were advised to use the Heathrow Express, Elizabeth Line or Piccadilly Line, or Park and Ride and Terminals 4 or 5 if driving was unavoidable.
- Heathrow saw its busiest day of the year on 19 July 2026, with more than 267,000 passengers, and the airport has faced repeated water-related disruption in 2026, including incidents in May and June.
