Heathrow customers complain over long queues caused by biometric e-gate breakdown as female passenger collapses

• BBC journalist complained of gridlocked queue at T3 passport control Thursday
• He said ‘not one’ of the passport e-gates operated by Border Force were working
• Heathrow Airport said a woman collapsed in an ‘unrelated incident’ to queues 
• It told customers the e-gate issue was quickly resolved but there was a ‘back up’ 

Passengers complained of long waits at Heathrow Airport today after the biometric scanners at passport control broke down. 

BBC journalist Michael Cowan shared an image of a gridlocked queue after landing at Terminal 3 at around 9am this morning. 

He claimed ‘not one’ of the so-called e-gates operated by Border Force were working, after ‘thousands of people’ arrived from long overnight flights. 

‘Woman collapsed in queue – horrendous,’ he wrote, before adding: ‘An hour later and some biometric scanners are now working.’ 

Heathrow Airport responded to his tweet, writing: ‘We are sorry to hear about these delays & we have responded to your DM.

‘There was an issue impacting the e-gates in T3, which are staffed & operated by @UKBorder. Our team worked closely with @UKBorder, found a solution, & T3 is now fully operational again.’ 

A spokesperson for the airport told MailOnline that the woman collapsed in an ‘unrelated incident to the queues which resulted from the e-gate issue.’ 

BBC journalist Michael Cowan shared an image of a gridlocked queue after landing at Terminal 3 at around 9am this morning. He claimed ‘not one’ of the so-called e-gates operated by Border Force were working, after ‘thousands of people’ arrived from long overnight flights

Heathrow Airport responded to say it was ‘aware’ of issues with the scanners this morning but that that they ‘should be fully operational now’, although it admitted: ‘There may be a bit of a back up.’

But there appeared to be further issues at the same terminal this afternoon, as one passenger tweeted at around 3pm: ‘What on Earth is happening at Terminal 3 passport control?!’, above a photo of a long queue. 

Heathrow Airport responded to say it was ‘aware’ of issues with the scanners this morning but that that they ‘should be fully operational now’, although it admitted: ‘There may be a bit of a back up.’ 

Others took to social media to complain of waiting for over an hour for their baggage on Thursday. 

It comes after issues were reported at Terminal 5 yesterday, with one Twitter user claiming the check-in area had queues going ‘back to the doors’, branding the situation ‘horrifying.’ 

He wrote: ‘Horrifying to see @HeathrowAirport still being desperately mismanaged. 

It comes after issues were reported at Terminal 5 yesterday, with one Twitter user claiming the check-in area had queues going ‘back to the doors’, branding the situation ‘horrifying’ (pictured)

‘This is just one of the security queues in the check-in area of T5 – goes back to the doors. What are you doing to this place? 

‘Should easily be able to handle this sort of capacity early November.’ 

A spokesperson for MailOnline said T5 security queues were ‘longer yesterday after a busy period of departing passengers’ but said the queue ‘did remain moving’. 

They said security at the terminal is ‘operating normally today.’

It comes after Britons were warned to brace for thunderstorms, hail and lightning after flash flooding wreaked havoc today by submerging roads and stopping public transport.

Forecasters have also told people across the UK to ‘get their ice scrapers out’ and prepare for frost this week as temperatures are set to drop to -2C in some areas tomorrow. 

The rain has mostly affected the South East, where earlier today flooding blocked sections of the M25, A41 and A1 in London and caused long delays on the Underground.

Heavy rain has been falling across parts of the South East overnight and has continued to pour down this morning. Pictured: A motorist climbs out of his vehicle stuck in a flood on the A41 Hendon Way, London

A council member of staff attempts to clear floodwater in a street in Moulsecoomb, Brighton, where household waste bins are floating down the road

Floodwater fills a subway next to the A41 Hendon Way in north London, which is now completely closed following torrential rainfall

The capital was heavily congested during the morning rush hour due to road closures, while drivers have been pictured abandoning their cars on waterlogged roads after attempting to drive through deep water.

The London Fire Brigade was called out to more than 11 flooding incidents an hour between 5am and 9am today, and crews rescued a man and two children who were trapped in a car by floodwater in Harrow, north-west London. 

Videos posted online showed commuters on buses with their feet in water and residential roads submerged.

A yellow weather warning remained in place across the South East until 3pm this afternoon but another warning is in force from 8pm. A new weather warning is being issued for tomorrow, predicting thunderstorms along the southern coast from Kent to Dorset and much of Wales overnight.

The Met Office revealed 64mm of rainfall fell in Horsmonden, Kent, in just the last 24 hours. The UK’s national average for November is 89mm.

In London, the Bakerloo and District lines were part suspended, while the Metropolitan, Overground, Circle, Hammersmith and City and Piccadilly lines were all facing delays.

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