Heathrow chaos as Terminal 3 is evacuated a day following security scare – a day after T4 was cleared when man ‘pressed alarms’

London Heathrow was partially evacuated today as passengers claimed a suspicious package was found inside a terminal building.

Travellers catching fights at the west London airport took to social media from about 9.20am to say they were told to leave Terminal 3 due to a ‘security incident’.

Sources at Heathrow confirmed to MailOnline that staff had been investigating a bag, but this was later stood down and passengers were allowed back in. 

One X user posted a photograph of huge crowds standing outside the Virgin Atlantic and Delta terminal building with their suitcases as they waited for information.

They posted: ‘T3 evacuated at London Heathrow due to suspicious package found. #lhr #heathrow #london #security.’ 

Another said on X: ‘Great, I was in line to drop my luggage off at Heathrow and they are evaluating the terminal because of a security incident.’

And a third added: ‘That’s everyone at the Delta/Virgin Atlantic terminal at Heathrow being told to leave then. Oh dear.’

A Heathrow spokesman told MailOnline: ‘Terminal 3 was evacuated for a very short amount of time this morning. Passengers have now returned to the Terminal and Heathrow is operating as normal.’ 

MailOnline has contacted the airport today to confirm the reason for the evacuation. Further information has also been requested from the Metropolitan Police.

It comes after Heathrow’s Terminal 4 was evacuated for around 30 minutes yesterday due to a man causing a disturbance on a train on its way to the airport. 

He activated the manual call alarms at the Elizabeth Line station for the terminal, before being arrested under the Public Order Act and taken into police custody. 

Speaking about yesterday’s incident, a Met Police spokesman said: ‘Police were alerted at around 9.30am on Monday, 9 October, to a man causing a disturbance on a train travelling to Heathrow. 

‘He activated push button “manual call alarms” at the Elizabeth Line station in Terminal 4. The man was arrested under the Public Order Act and taken into police custody. The station area was evacuated for a short period of time.’

Terminal 3 opened in 1961 and is known for housing the UK’s first moving walkways. Other companies that use it include British Airways, KLM, Air France and Finnair.