Full list of UK services affected by Microsoft's global IT outage (2024)

A global IT outage is causing disruption across the UK and around the world this morning (Friday, July 19).

From airports to GP surgeries, some services in the UK are struggling to function after a major IT outage is believed to have been caused by a faulty update to widely used cybersecurity software.

Major infrastructure including airlines, train companies, banks and media outlets have experienced issues after their computer systems were knocked offline or devices were left showing the so-called “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD).

Which services have been affected in the UK?

In the UK, Sky News was forced off air as the outage meant it was unable to broadcast although the issue is now fixed.

Sky Sports News, CBBC and London Stock Exchange News Platform (RNS) werealso affected by the outage.

Train service information website National Rail Enquiries warned passengers there are “widespread IT issues across the entire network”.

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. Please check with your airline for the latest flight information. pic.twitter.com/s6Psd6pHUB

— Heathrow Airport (@HeathrowAirport) July 19, 2024

Sky News has shared the full list ofservices that have been disruptedin the UK.

It says these are the train firms that have been affected:

  • Avanti West Coast
  • Gatwick Express
  • Great Northern
  • Great Western Railway
  • Hull Trains
  • London Northwestern
  • Lumo Railway
  • Northern Railway
  • Southern Railway
  • Thameslink
  • TransPennine
  • West Midlands Rail

A spokesperson for Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, said the outage was “impacting select systems”.

She went on: “Flights are operational and we are implementing contingency plans to minimise any impact on journeys.”

Long queues formed at airports such as Gatwick, Luton and Edinburgh.

UK airportsaffected, according to Sky News, are:

  • Heathrow - flights "operational" but there are delays
  • Luton - using manual systems for check-in services
  • London Gatwick - warning of delays
  • Manchester - check-in taking longer for some airlines
  • Edinburgh airport - longer wait times due to outage
  • Stansted Airport - check-in services being done manually
  • Liverpool Airport - airlines affected
  • Birmingham Airport - some delays at check-in

Airlines affected are:

  • Ryanair
  • Delta Airlines
  • American Airlines
  • Virgin Australia
  • SpiceJet and Akasa Air (Both low-cost Indian airlines)
  • WizzAir

Ferry services at the port of Doverhave been disrupted withpeople being told to expect to wait longer.

GP surgeries and pharmacies in England and Wales are also experiencing issues with some GP practices taking to social media to report they cannot access the EMIS Web system.

EMISWeb isthe most widely used clinical system for primary care in the UK and it enables GP practices to book appointments, examine records and includes a clinical decision support tool as well as helping with admin.

Among those affected are Wilmslow Health Centre in Cheshire,Solihull Healthcare Partnership in the West Midlands andCentral Lakes Medical Group in Ambleside.

‼ IMPORTANT NOTICE ‼

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.

— Windrush Medical Practice (@WindrushMedical) July 19, 2024

Football clubs have also been affected including Manchester United(ticket release postponed) and Hibernian Football Club (general ticket sale delayed).

Sky News said more problems could occur at other English Football League clubs as they also experienced issues this morning:

  • Blackburn
  • Bolton
  • Bradford
  • Chesterfield
  • Huddersfield
  • Leyton Orient
  • Lincoln
  • Plymouth
  • Preston
  • Rotherham
  • Walsall

Doctor says outage is "unsafe" for patients

Dr Farah Jameel, a GP in central London working at Museum Practice, told the PA news agency she is unable to access patient notes, imaging results, medication history and blood tests.

“We are still working through what this could mean for our practice,” she said.

“At present we cannot access any patient notes and are trying to assess patients on a case by case basis.

“We are unable to access blood test results, imaging results, clinical history and anticipate that the clinical documentation work will accumulate through the course of the day.

“Patient care pathways will be interrupted as we are unable to organise simple management plans like organising tests, and issuing regular medications.

“We are operating a clinical triage system so that we can ensure safety of our patients and see those with the greatest clinical need. Deferring all others that can safely wait to another day.”

Dr Jameel also stressed how “unsafe” the interruption is.

“I think we need to underline the clinical impact of this IT disruption on how significantly it has interrupted clinical care. This is unsafe.”

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) also said “services in community pharmacies, including the accessing of prescriptions from GPs and medicine deliveries, are disrupted today”.

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Around the world, banks, supermarkets and other major institutions have reported computer issues that have led to the disruption of services.

Many businesses have been left unable to take digital payments.

Microsoft aware of outage issue

Microsoft has confirmed it was aware of and fixing issues with its cloud platform, Azure, but many cybersecurity experts have reported the potential source of the issue as global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which provides cyber attack monitoring and protection to many major businesses.

Experts have said a flawed update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor software could be the source of the problem.

CrowdStrike has not yet publicly confirmed any issue.

In a statement, Microsoft said a resolution for Windows devices was “forthcoming”.

It said: “We are aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third party software platform. We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming.”

Full list of UK services affected by Microsoft's global IT outage (2024)

FAQs

What is the Microsoft outage affecting? ›

The massive disruption to Microsoft systems has included flight delays and cancellations, as well as impacting hospitals, banks, supermarkets and millions of businesses.

What is the global outage affecting? ›

Major global IT outage grounds flights, hits banks and businesses around the world. The problem was caused by a “defect found in a single content update for Windows” from the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Which banks were affected by Microsoft outage? ›

LIST: Banks affected by Crowdstrike, Microsoft outage
  • Arvest Bank.
  • Bank of America.
  • Capital One.
  • Charles Schwab.
  • Chase.
  • TD Bank.
  • US Bank.
  • Wells Fargo.
3 days ago

What devices were affected by CrowdStrike? ›

CrowdStrike IT outage affected 8.5 million Windows devices, Microsoft says. Microsoft says it estimates that 8.5m computers around the world were disabled by the global IT outage. It's the first time a figure has been put on the incident and suggests it could be the worst cyber event in history.

What business is affected by Microsoft outage? ›

The global outage due to a technical issue around Microsoft's applications and services has largely affected businesses and institutions in different countries. Flight operations, banks, retailers and IT firms were at the receiving end of this IT outage, that has left people in panic.

Is Teams affected by the Microsoft outage? ›

A major outage affecting systems across the world saw Microsoft Teams taken offline - but don't worry - it's back now you. The video conferencing service was down for several hours following the huge global IT outage affecting Microsoft systems following a faulty CrowdStrike security update.

What was affected by CrowdStrike outage? ›

A software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, one of the largest operators in the industry, triggered systems problems that grounded flights, forced broadcasters off air and left customers without access to services such as healthcare or banking.

Is there a problem with Microsoft today? ›

Everything is up and running.

What caused the outage with Microsoft? ›

What we know about the global Microsoft outage. A massive outage was caused by what was supposed to be a routine update from the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. A routine software update caused cascading chaos Friday that has engulfed global businesses from airports and banks to retail and law enforcement.

What is the problem faced by Microsoft? ›

A faulty CrowdStrike update caused 'blue screen of death' errors on Microsoft Windows, impacting aviation and finance sectors. Microsoft 365 apps show 'Service Degradation' following Azure workload changes on July 18, 2024, 9:56 PM UTC that caused connectivity failures.

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