One of Britain’s busiest airports is without running water following a major outage that means toilets cannot be flushed and drinks cannot be made in bars and cafes.
London Gatwick Airport confirmed it was facing disruption at both of its terminals on Sunday due to a "water issue".
In a statement, Gatwick Airport said: "A water issue in the Horley area is causing disruption at the airport this morning. The problem is affecting water supply in both terminals and is currently under investigation.
"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.
“We will provide further updates and apologise for any inconvenience to passengers."
Gatwick Airport. No water. No restaurants or bars able to be open. 1st world problems pic.twitter.com/hRmJeQ8IgR
— Roger of RTW (@JlpRoger) July 26, 2026
It is understood flights have not yet been impacted.
One frustrated passenger took to X and wrote: “There’s no been a single sign of anyone handing out bottled water. I’m at the airport right now and am told the water works before security - why were we not told that the final toilets would be before security?”
Another added: “I’ve been at Gatwick since 11am and only now at 12.39pm has the airport announced that there is a problem with the water. They are definitely not handing out water...”
On Facebook, one user posted: “Gasping for a drink & crossing my legs right now. This is ridiculous! Gatwick airport has shut all restaurants and most toilets due to a water outage. Not a great start to the holiday.”
Former MP and recently appointed Government “music champion” Michael Dugher wrote on social media: “At least allow people to use the chairs in all the closed restaurants and bars. No water is one thing, but depriving people of somewhere to sit is another… families are having to sit on the floor…”
SES Water, which provides water services in Surrey, West Sussex, Kent and south London, reported a loss of supply in the TN8, TN11 and parts of RH1 postcodes following issues at a water treatment centre.
At 2.08pm, the company posted an update that its Bough Beech water treatment works is back up and running. However, further water treatments water are required before services can resume.
It is currently delivering bottled water to customers most in need on its priority services register, while engineers attempt to fix the supply problems.
It comes after news broke yesterday that a fourth heatwave is expected to hit the UK as wildfires tear through parts of the country.
No rain has fallen in July in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and West Sussex, and 16 counties have recorded 0.1mm, which “might just be a bit of dew on the grass”, said the Met Office’s senior operational meteorologist Marco Petagna.
The UK has had 20% of its average July rainfall, which takes into account the wetter areas.
It is “very, very unusual” for a hot and dry spell to last this long, Mr Petagna added.
The dry conditions follow last year’s drought summer, as the UK faces more extreme weather fuelled by human-caused climate change, mostly from burning fossil fuels.
Heat alerts are in place across parts of England with officials warning that temperatures are likely to impact on health and wellbeing.
