A major IT outage affecting businesses has sparked chaos around the world and here are all those affected.
Banks, supermarkets and other major institutions are all reporting computer issues disrupting services, with some airlines warning of delays and some airports grounding flights. Trains have also been affected with travellers told to expect disruption today.
From local GP practices to Sky News content has not been able to be viewed as normal due to what is believed to be a system failure and not a cyberattack. Overnight, Microsoft confirmed it was investigating an issue with its services and apps, with the tech giant’s service health website warning of “service degradation” that meant users may not be able to access many of the company’s most popular services, used by millions of business and people around the world.
Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt also reported seeing issues at global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, with Australian telecoms firm Telstra posting to X that the worldwide outage was “because of a global issue affecting both Microsoft and CrowdStrike”. Toby Murray, associate professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne, Australia, said it was possible a “buggy” update to one of global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike’s products may have been the cause of the global outage. “CrowdStrike Falcon has been linked to this widespread outage,” he said.
“CrowdStrike is a global cyber security and threat intelligence company. Falcon is what is known as an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platform, which monitors the computers that it is installed on to detect intrusions – hacks – and respond to them. That means that Falcon is a pretty privileged piece of software in that it is able to influence how the computers it is installed on behave. For example, if it detects that a computer is infected with malware that is causing the computer to communicate with an attacker, then Falcon could conceivably block that communication from occurring.
“If Falcon is suffering a malfunction then it could be causing a widespread outage for two reasons – one: Falcon is widely deployed on many computers, and two: because of Falcon’s privileged nature. Falcon is a bit like anti-virus software: it is regularly updated with information about the latest online threats (so it can better detect them). We have certainly seen anti-virus updates in the past causing problems. It is possible that today’s outage may have been caused by a buggy update to Falcon.”
Microsoft
IT giant Microsoft confirmed it was investigating an “issue” with its 365 apps and operating systems, and although it said it had recovered some services, warned that the issue was ongoing and users should expect “service degradation” according to a status page on its website. “Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions,” they said on X this morning. “We still expect that users will continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue.”
Air travel
Ryanair has warned of “potential disruptions across the network”. On the airline’s website, it posted: “Potential disruptions across the network (Fri 19 July) due to a global 3rd party system outage.
“Affected passengers will be notified and any passengers travelling across the network on Fri 19 July should check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight. We advise passengers to arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance of their flight to avoid any disruptions. We regret any inconvenience caused to passengers by this 3rd party IT issue, which is outside of Ryanair’s control and affects all airlines operating across the network.”
A spokesperson for Heathrow said: “Microsoft is currently experiencing a global outage which is impacting select systems at Heathrow. Flights are operational and we are implementing contingency plans to minimise any impact on journeys. Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest flight information.”
Edinburgh Airport said the IT outage is causing longer waiting times. A spokesperson said: “An IT system outage means wait times are longer than usual at the airport. This outage is affecting many other businesses, including airports. Work is ongoing to resolve this and our teams are on hand to assist where we can. Passengers are thanked for their patience.” An image posted on social media shows long queues at Luton Airport. The image, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, is accompanied by a caption stating that a “system failure” is causing “massive queues”.
London Stansted Airport said that some airline check-in services are being done manually but “flights are still operating as normal”. A spokesperson said: “Some retail payment machine services have been impacted, and some airline check-in services reverted to being done manually, but our main operational systems are unaffected and flights are still operating as normal.”
London Gatwick airport has said “passengers may experience some delays”. The airport posted on X: “We are affected by the global Microsoft issues, so passengers may experience some delays while checking in and passing through security. Passengers should still arrive for their normal check-in time. We apologise for any inconvenience and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
A spokesman for Liverpool Airport said: “We are seeing an impact, it is affecting some airlines, but not all, at check-in. What they are doing is reverting to manual systems, manual check-ins rather than computerised. So people are still checking-in, it is just a bit slower, planes have still been getting away. For passengers, our advice is still to come to the airport, but check with your airline first and we ask for a bit of patience as well as the problem is resolved.”
A spokesman for Manchester Airport said: “The international IT outage has affected ground handling services for some airlines – specifically those that use Swissport. Some processes like check-in and boarding are taking longer than usual for affected airlines and some areas of the airport are busy as a result. The majority of flights operating from the airport are unaffected. As always, passengers are advised to check the status of their flights before they leave for the airport, as well as checking up-to-date travel advice as some train services have also been affected by the issues. Passengers should follow their airlines’ advice as to when to arrive at the airport. Some of our retailers have also been affected meaning they have been unable to process card payments.”
Glasgow Airport said: “We are largely unaffected by the current global IT issues. At present a small number of airlines have moved to manual check-in and some retailers are only accepting cash payments.” Bristol Airport said: “A global IT issue is impacting travel. We advise passengers to contact their airlines for the latest flight information before travelling to the Airport. Some of our retailers are currently unable to accept cards – we recommend passengers bring cash if possible.”
Trains
National Rail Enquiries said there are “widespread IT issues across the entire network”. Among the operators affected are Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, Southern and Thameslink. It told passengers: “There are currently widespread IT issues across the entire network.
“IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem. As a result, some train operators are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice train cancellations. Additionally, other key systems, including real-time customer information platforms, are also affected.”
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) – parent company of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern – stated: “We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network. Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem. We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.
“Additionally, other key systems, including our real-time customer information platforms, are also affected. We will provide additional updates when we can. In the meantime, please regularly check your journey before you travel.” GTR carries more passengers and has more trains and staff than any other operator in Britain.” Meanwhile, train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) said: “Please be aware that some TPE stations and systems are having IT issues. Please purchase tickets on board if you are unable to do so in stations.” Train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) warned passengers it has been affected by the IT outage. It said: “Please be aware that some TPE stations and systems are having IT issues. Please purchase tickets on board if you are unable to do so in stations.”
Sky News
Sky News has been knocked off air online for periods today. On Friday morning, a statement on their online page, YouTube and TV channel says: “We apologise for the interruption to this broadcast. We hope to restore the transmission of Sky News shortly.”
GP surgeries
The Church Lane Surgery in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, posted on X that “our clinical system has not been working since 7am this morning”. It stated: “We have no access to patient clinical records so are unable to book appointments or provide information… This is a national problem and is being worked on as a high priority.”
The Wilmslow Health Centre in Cheshire wrote on X: “All practices in the UK using the NHS commissioned GP computer system EMIS are currently without access to their IT systems. This is beyond the control of GP surgeries. Please bear with us until we have our IT systems back online.”
GP surgeries hit by the outage have said the issue “will have a big effect”. Central Lakes Medical Group in Ambleside wrote on X: “We’re impacted by the IT outage. This will have a big effect on us, so apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused, and delays on the phone.” Another post by Pocklington Group Practice in the East Riding of Yorkshire said: “Due to ongoing Windows issues affecting IT worldwide, the practice is currently unable to function as normal. This may result in appointments needing to be cancelled and rearranged. Updates will follow when available.”
Solihull Healthcare Partnership in the West Midlands said on X: “Unfortunately there is a national issue with EMIS Web – our clinical computer system. This will affect our ability to book/consult with patients this morning. We will update patients when we can. We apologise for the disruption.”
A GP practice in Oxfordshire has asked patients with “routine concerns” to wait until Monday. Writing on X, Windrush Medical Practice in Witney, said: “There is a nationwide outage of our booking system EMIS. We’re continuing as normal for urgent enquiries but ask for routine concerns to wait until Monday. Please continue to submit your queries through Engage Consult. Thank you.”
Luton Airport said operations are continuing with manual systems. On X, the airport posted: “We are aware of an ongoing global IT issue that is impacting check-in and boarding procedures for some airlines.We have additional staff on hand to support and operations are continuing with manual systems. Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for flight updates.”
Sport/entertainment
Manchester United stated: “Unfortunately, due to a global Microsoft Servers outage which is affecting many systems, including ours, this morning’s ticket release will be postponed until midday. The website will also remain unavailable until the issue is resolved. Further updates will be provided here, including any further potential delays.”
Blackburn Rovers football club said on X: “Due to a global third-party system outage, some online services, including our ticketing platform, are experiencing disruption today. This is completely out of the Club’s control and is a network-wide issue across the world, which we are monitoring closely.”
Gambling company Ladbrokes said: “You might have seen the news about the global technical issue affecting airlines, banks etc. Unfortunately we’re experiencing this too. We’re working hard to resolve the issue but don’t know when it will be fixed. Thanks for being so patient and apologies for the inconvenience.”
Utility services
Bristol Water said it is experiencing company wide IT issues but the billing department remains operating. On X it posted: “Please be aware we are experiencing company wide IT Issues – we are still able to take emergency calls at this time. At the moment the billing department remain operating as usual. Sorry for any inconvenience, we are working on getting back to normal as soon as possible.”
