Thousands of holidaymakers faced disruption on Thursday after Heathrow Airport's Terminal 3 was evacuated due to reports of a "suspect package”.
Passengers were seen flooding out of Terminal 3 at Britain's busiest airport during the peak of half-term travel following reports of a suspicious item.
Metropolitan Police officers initially attended the scene but later confirmed it was a false alarm and said the incident had been stood down.
Heathrow Express rail services to the airport were briefly affected, with the operator warning of delays to some of its services.
Flights from Terminal 3 appear to be largely unaffected following the evacuation and false alarm over a suspicious package.
No delays have been reported in the past hour. One Virgin Atlantic flight to San Francisco, scheduled for 4.25pm, was cancelled, although it is unclear whether this was linked to the incident.
A spokesperson for Heathrow said: "This afternoon, our teams responded to a potentially suspicious article in Terminal 3.
"As a precaution, a small part of Terminal 3 was temporarily evacuated while the authorities conducted the appropriate checks.
"The issue has now been safely resolved. We apologise to our passengers for any inconvenience caused.”
A Met Police spokesperson added: "This was a false alarm and the incident has now been stood down."
Heathrow Airport has previously experienced significant disruption this year, notably when a fire at a nearby substation on March 21 caused the cancellation of almost all flights, leaving thousands stranded.
