International airline passengers arriving at Heathrow airport near London and other airports in Britain faced long queues at immigration checkpoints on Tuesday afternoon after the country’s Border Force reported a computer failure across the country, officials said.
“Border Force is currently experiencing a nationwide issue which is affecting passengers processing across the border,” Heathrow, the country’s largest airport, said on social media at 9:15 p.m.
The problem also affected Manchester airport, Gatwick airport near London and Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland. The total number of airports affected was unclear.
Officials said the problem originated with Border Force “eGates,” immigration checkpoints that process passengers arriving across the border.
Officials at Gatwick and Manchester airports said there were no flight delays or cancellations related to the disruption, but said they were working with Border Force officials to help passengers experiencing immigration delays.
It was unclear when the outage began or what specifically caused it. An emailed query to the UK Home Office, which administers Border Force, was not immediately answered on Tuesday.
images in Social media showed crowded and stagnant lines. in front of a row of gates beneath signs reading “UK Border” at Heathrow Airport.