A widespread worldwide outage has forced the closure of numerous businesses, including airlines, train companies, TV and GP services.
The problem is thought to be connected to a problem at Microsoft and the international cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. However, it’s unclear if it’s the same problem that affects train and airport services worldwide.
While CrowdStrike announced in an automated message that it was aware of reports of crashes, Microsoft stated on Friday morning (July 19) that it was still working to fix the “lingering impact” of its 365 applications and services, which are in a “degraded state”.
Heathrow, the main airport serving London, issued a statement stating that “flights are operational though we are experiencing delays”.
In order to avoid any impact on travel, the airline said it was putting back-up measures in place. Customers are encouraged to check with their airline for the most recent flight information.
Additionally, Luton airport stated that it is now supporting operations with manual methods and is aware of the worldwide IT issue.
According to a Reuters witness, as travellers at Edinburgh Airport were unable to use the automated boarding pass scanners, security monitors showed the message “server offline”.
The biggest airline in Europe in terms of passengers, Ryanair, issued a warning to its customers about possible disruptions that could impact “all airlines operating across the network” though it did not elaborate on what exactly would be disrupted.
On X, formerly Twitter, the airport posted: “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.”
Widespread disruption has also been reported in one of London’s popular airports.
The company said: “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.”
Its IT teams is “actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem”, according to National Rail.
While the NHS is yet to confirm it is experiencing widespread issues, certain surgeries have come forward with problems.
As patients try to schedule online, a surgery in Putney, south-west London, reportedly displays an error notice.
The clinical system is also unavailable at Grimethorpe Surgery, in Barnsley, which was attributed to a problem with EMIS Web, a platform that lets medical professionals access and modify patient health records.
Emergency services in America
Commonwealth bank (Australia)
The biggest bank in Australia, Commonwealth Bank, reported that the disruption has prevented some of its customers from transferring money. Both Sydney Airport and national carrier Qantas reported that flights were delayed but not cancelled.
The pub chain J D Wetherspoon has acknowledged that its app has been disabled due to the downtime.
“We can confirm the Wetherspoons app is not working at this time,” a representative stated.
“We’re putting a lot of effort into finding a solution. Customers may, however, pay with cash for their meals and beverages.
The exchange’s website was still displaying prices from Thursday night’s close when trading got underway at 8am.
According to Sky News’ business correspondent, Ian King, the FTSE-100 opened 50 points lower at the outset, or roughly 0.62 per cent, although there were no prices listed on the exchange’s website.
The DAX in Germany fell 0.55 per cent 30 minutes into the session, while the CAC-40 in France and the MIB in Italy also had 0.45 per cent declines this morning.
On Friday morning, Sky News momentarily resumed its live coverage before being taken off the air once more.
The broadcaster had earlier expressed regret to the audience for any inconvenience the tech breakdown had caused.
Blackburn Rovers 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.”
