Dream holidays shattered after Heathrow power crisis

28-year-old Muhammad Khalil had been waiting at London's Paddington station since early alternative flights to morning looking for Pakistan. He hoped to be reunited with his wife after five months

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Nicola and Justin Sidwell had spent years saving up for their holiday of a lifetime and were due to jet off from Heathrow to Tokyo on Friday morning.

But the Warwickshire couple, aged 34 and 35, got no further than their London hotel when Europe's busiest airport was forced to close due to a power cut caused by a “catastrophic” fire ripping through a nearby power station.

“We're now stuck in limbo,” Sidwell told The Independent from the couple’s hotel room.

“We have been sat in our hotel waiting to hear something from British Airways since 5am. It is a nightmare.”

They were among thousands of travellers set to either leave or arrive in London who had their plans thrown into chaos following the overnight blaze at an electricity substation in Hayes, west London.

Up to 300,000 passengers were set to fly through Heathrow on Friday, with around 1,351 flights cancelled or redirected, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Among those affected was 29-year-old Ellen Deasy, who was surprised by her cousin Jenna with a holiday to Venice for her 30th birthday.

With dreams of gelato and gondoliers dashed by the fire, she told The Independent she would have to settle for a day trip to Portsmouth instead.