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STORY: Britain's leading airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted in the south, Manchester in northern England, and Edinburgh in Scotland, said they were aware of a nationwide problem and their staff were working with Border Force officials to help resolve the issue.

One traveler who posted a video on social media platform X of long queues at London's Heathrow airport, described border officials rushing to manually process passport holders.

"I looked over at the electronic gates and all of the screens were blank," Sam Morter, 32, told Reuters, who was returning to London's Heathrow from a holiday in Sri Lanka.

"You could hear people saying, this is typical of the UK. Nothing ever works," he added.

He made it through the airport after around 90 minutes.

"We are aware of a technical issue affecting e-gates across the country," a Home Office spokesperson said.

"We are working closely with Border Force and affected airports to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologize to all passengers for the inconvenience caused."