Water outage at Britain's Gatwick airport leaves toilets out of order and restaurants closed

LONDON — A power outage at a water treatment plant in south east England left toilets out of order and forced the closure of restaurants at Gatwick Airport on Sunday.

The airport, south of London, apologized on X for the inconvenience to passengers using both terminals.

SES Water said it was working to restore service after a power outage at its Bough Beech Water Treatment Works caused a drop in pressure and temporary water loss for some customers in Kent and Sussex counties.

The airport said it was providing bottled water, though some passengers disputed that.

Paul Lee, a passenger at the airport, said he had not heard a word about the shut-off or seen water bottles being distributed.

“For people who need to go to the toilet, this isn’t good,” he told the BBC. “I’m taking off soon, so that’s fine, but for passengers in a few hours, this will be bad.”

Michael Dugher, a former member of Parliament, said on social media that with bars and restaurants closed, passengers were sitting on the floor because of a seating shortage. He urged the airport to open those spaces to create more seating.