Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from London’s Gatwick airport this morning.

Alarms were heard going off through the North Terminal and footage and images shared on social media show crows of people standing outside both the North Terminal and on the airside tarmac.

Gatwick has since confirmed that the North Terminal departure lounge was evacuated ‘for a short time’ this morning.

It said it was ‘due to a fire alarm being activated’.

“As always, safety and security are our number one priority. We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience.”

A spokesperson later confirmed it was a false alarm, with no fire reported. They said passengers were evacuated at 10.43 and were back in the terminal by 11.10.

Flights are continuing to operate, but mid-morning departures have typically been delayed by 60-90 minutes, according to data on Flightradar24.com.