Numerical simulations of circular holes under internal hydraulic pressure are carried out to investigate the hydraulic fracture initiation, propagation and breakdown behavior in rocks. The hydraulic pressure increases at a constant rate. The heterogeneity of the rocks is taken into account in the study by varying the homogeneity index. In addition, the permeability is varied with the states of stress and fracture. The simulations are conducted by using a finite element code, FRFPA2D, which couples the flow, stress and damage analyses. The simulation results suggest that the fracture initiation and propagation, the roughness of the fracture path and the breakdown pressure are influenced considerably by the heterogeneity of rocks. The hole diameter elongation and the stress field evolution around the fracture tip during the fracture propagation can also provide useful information for the interpretation of the hydraulic fracturing behaviour.