Water Outage at London Gatwick Airport Shuts Toilets and Restaurants

LONDON - Water supplies to London's Gatwick Airport were disrupted on Sunday after a power outage at a local treatment works, the airport said, leaving toilets out of order and forcing the closure of restaurants and bars on a busy summer travel day.

The airport, Britain's busiest after Heathrow, said water supplies in both of its terminals had been affected. Passengers described flushing toilets that had stopped working and shuttered food and drink outlets, with images and complaints circulating on social media through the afternoon.

“Bottled water is being made available to passengers and staff across the airport and other contingency measures are being put in place to ensure the welfare of our passengers,” Gatwick said in a statement.

The water utility SES Water said the problem stemmed from a power outage at its Bough Beech Water Treatment Works, which left some customers with low water pressure or a temporary loss of supply. Gatwick was among those affected.

By Sunday afternoon, SES Water said Bough Beech was “back up and running” and that supplies were gradually returning to affected customers, including the airport. The company cautioned that it would take time for the network to return to normal, describing the situation as a highly unusual and complex issue.

The disruption raised the prospect of knock-on effects for operations at one of Europe's busiest single-runway airports, where any loss of basic facilities can complicate passenger welfare during peak periods. The airport urged travellers to check the status of their flights before setting out. This is a developing story and will be updated as the situation is resolved.