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Gatwick Airport is suffering a severe water outage, with passengers unable to flush toilets and hand-washing facitlies out of use.
Although flights are unaffected, several services have been compromised at both of the Sussex airport’s terminals.
Passengers have posted online that they are unable to get hot drinks, wash their hands or fill up water bottles.
Bottled water is being given to travellers at the airport because of the problem, that is also affecting people living in Kent and Sussex.
People are being given bottled water while staff try to resolve the issue, which is also affecting residents of Kent and Sussex.
In a statement on social media, the 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.”
SES Water, which supplies water to the airport, said that it was experiencing an “issue” at its Bough Beech Water Treatment Works.
Some customers were experiencing either low water pressure or loss of supply, it said.
“We are now delivering bottled water to the most vulnerable customers on our Priority Services Register who need it most.
“Our teams are working hard to return water supplies to normal and we apologise to everyone affected.”
Talk presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer said in a post on X that there was “no running water across the entire airport.
“That means no coffees, no water fountains, no flushing toilets and no hand washing.
“Gatwick hasn’t bothered to make a public announcement about this to passengers. How helpful…”
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…”
Another user on X said that no restaurants or bars were able to open.
Gatwick is the UK’s second-busiest airport, after Heathrow, and in 2024 was the 10th-busiest in Europe in terms of passenger traffic.
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