What systems are down due to huge IT outage - Windows, Sky, Ryanair

Flights, media companies and major banks have been affected by a mass IT outage

Global institutions, including major banks, media outlets and airlines, have been hit by a mass IT outage.

The cause of the outage is unclear, but it is understood to be linked to Microsoft PC operating systems.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Microsoft 365 posted on X to say: “We’re investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.”

Scottish impacts

The departure board at Edinburgh Airport has frozen, which has led some passengers to miss their flights.

Passengers who have been impacted by flight cancellations are being told to leave the airport.

Earlier this morning the fire alarm sounded in the main terminal building, which is thought to have been triggered by the same computer error.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A spokesperson for the airport said: “An IT system outage means wait times are longer than usual at the airport.

“This outage is affecting many other businesses, including airports.

“Works is ongoing to resolve this and our teams are on hand to assist where we can

“Passengers are thanked for their patience.”

The airport is now telling passengers not to travel to the airport without first checking the status of their flight.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The statement also said the waiting time at security is now one hour.

Glasgow Airport said it is largely unaffected by the IT outage.

On X, formerly Twitter, it posted: “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.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Some cross-border rail services, including TransPenine Express, Avanti West Coast and Lumo, are also affected.

Morrisons, Wetherspoons and Ladbrokes are also experiencing issues - all customers at Wetherspoons will need to pay for their food and drink with cash only.

UK impacts

Check-ins at London Stansted Airport are now having to be done manually, leading to lengthy queues - London Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton and Belfast airports have also told passengers to expect delays.

Ryanair has also announced it is experiencing “potential disruptions across the network” and is advising anyone travelling with them today to check their app for flight updates.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sky News and CBBC were off air temporarily because of the outages, but are now back broadcasting.

Elsewhere the London Stock Exchange says it is working normally but there are issues with its regulatory news service, which its technical teams are working on.

And some train companies in the UK have been affected, including Southern, Northern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Great Western, Hull Trains, London Northwestern Railway, Merseyrail, Transport for Wales and West Midlands Railway.

London taxi drivers have also reported difficulties processing Visa payments.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A number of GP surgeries in England have reported issues with booking appointments in relation to EMIS Web, the IT system many surgeries use to manage appointments.

One GP has told the BBC they are only seeing the most unwell patients and are handwriting notes and scripts.

Around a third of GP surgeries in Northern Ireland are also affected.

A spokesperson for the UK National Pharmacy Association added: “We’re aware that due to global IT outages that services in community pharmacies, including the accessing of prescriptions from GPs and medicine deliveries, are disrupted today.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We urge patients to be patient whilst visiting their pharmacy.

Schoolcomms, a communication app used by over 3,000 schools, is also affected.

Worldwide impacts

Other airports including Berlin, Amsterdam, Prague, Budapest, Eindhoven and a number in Spain have reported similar issues.

No flights are being allowed to land at Zurich Airport.

Further afield Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide airports in Australia, Narita Airport in Japan, Christchurch Airport in New Zealand, Dubai Airport in the UAE and Delhi Airport in India have all reported system issues.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A number of airlines are impacted and some have issued ground stops, including KLM, Lufthansa, Transavia, SAS Airlines, Eurowings, Turkish Airlines, United, Delta, Qantas, JetStar, Jeju Air, HK Express, Spring Japan, Akasa Air and Spice Jet.

American Airlines is now back to running services after previously halting all flights.

Over 1,300 flights have been cancelled globally so far.

This includes 512 in the US, 92 in Germany, 56 in India, 45 in Italy and 21 in Canada.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium also says today was set to be the busiest day for UK flight departures so far this year, with 3,200 departures scheduled.

New Zealand’s parliament says it is having IT issues.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Australia has been one of the countries most impacted by the power outage.

Major Australian telecommunications giant Telstra Group has said it is facing disruption.

On the other side of the world, the US state of Alaska has warned its emergency services are affected, with many 911 and non-emergency call centres not working properly.

Baltic Hub, the largest container terminal in Poland, is also affected and has asked companies not to send containers to the port.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Luebeck and Kiel hospitals in northern Germany have cancelled elective operations. IT operations at the Paris Olympics, which begin next week, have also been impacted.

Formula One team Mercedes have also been hit, with team members spotted wearing T-shirts with CrowdStrike’s logo on it ahead of the first practice round of the Hungarian Grand Prix near Budapest.

Some global TV channels are down, including ESPN cable channels and Paramount channels MTV, VH1, CMT and Pop TV.

What is to blame?

The outage started at around 11pm British time on Thursday.

Early theories are blaming US-based cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

CrowdStrike helps companies manage their IT security to help stop data breaches, ransomware and cyber tracks and has 24,000 customers across the world.

Earlier this week CrowdStrike announced an update of one of its products called Falcon - following the IT outage CrowdStrike says issues with Falcon may have caused the outage.

American Airlines and the Swiss Federal Office for Cyber Security have both blamed a faulty update at CrowdStrike for the worldwide IT outage.

CrowdStrike has now released a full statement from George Kurtz, the company’s CEO.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It said: “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.

“Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack.

“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.

“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We further recommend organisations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels.

“Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”

The latest update from Microsoft says: “We’re aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform.

“We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming.”

CrowdStrike lost a fifth of its value in pre-market trading in the US and 15 per cent on the Nasdaq New York Stock Exchange, equivalent to $12.5 billion overnight.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Emergency Cobra meeting held

Top UK officials met earlier today for an emergency Cobra meeting, and Number 10 no says it is not aware of the outage affecting government business.

A spokeswoman for Number 10 said the UK Government is “working closely with the respective sectors and industries on this issue”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was not at the Cobra meeting as he was holding a cabinet meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Downing Street.

Cabinet Office Minister Pat McFadden said: “Many people are being affected by today’s IT outages impacting services across the country and globally.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Ministers are working with their sectors and respective industries on the issue.

“I am in close contact with teams coordinating our response through the Cobra response system.”

The Scottish Government Resilience Room has also been activated in response.

A spokesperson for the government said: “The Scottish Government’s IT systems are functioning normally.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There is minimal impact on NHS services and patients should continue to attend all appointments as planned. There are no major outages reported for NHS Scotland systems.

“We are aware of impacts at Edinburgh Airport and would urge those travelling today to check with their operator.

“Impact is being experienced by a limited number of UK rail operators but at the moment ScotRail and the Caledonian Sleeper service is unaffected.

“Scottish Government Resilience Room will continue to liaise with partners and ministers will be kept updated throughout the day.”

Comments

 0 comments

Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.

Dare to be Honest
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice