EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, reports that a computer failure at Swanwick Air Traffic Control centre has caused London air space to close.

EUROCONTROL has said that the failure is affecting London’s five main airports with “potentially severe flight delays” for anyone traveling to or from the city.

A computer failure is affecting London airspace with potentially severe #flightdelay http://t.co/21rtiLnmr8 — EUROCONTROL (@eurocontrol) December 12, 2014

NATS can confirm that a technical problem has been reported at Swanwick ATC centre. More information at http://t.co/33JCopLGeR — NATS (@NATSPressOffice) December 12, 2014

NATS, the UK's leading provider of air traffic control services has released the following statement: “NATS can confirm that a technical problem has been reported at Swanwick air traffic control centre. “We apologise for any delays and our incident response team has been mobilised. “Every possible action is being taken to assist in resolving the situation and to confirm the details. “Further information will be released as it becomes available.” We're no air traffic control specialists, but we wonder if they've tried this...  

UPDATE...

It seems the problems at Swanwick air traffic control centre have been resolved and services are in the process of returning to normal. Officials at London Heathrow Airport have blamed the failures on a power outage. "We apologise for any delays and the inconvenience this may have caused," NATS said in a statement. https://twitter.com/AP/status/543441176645603328 https://twitter.com/AP/status/543448223093108738