A widespread Microsoft failure on Wednesday disrupted online services around the world. Key platforms including Heathrow Airport, NatWest, and Minecraft went offline for several hours before engineers restored access later that evening. Millions of users experienced interruptions to banking, work, and entertainment services.
Users report widespread website and app failures
Outage tracker Downdetector recorded thousands of complaints from users unable to access websites, send emails, or log into accounts. Many experienced frozen pages, stalled transactions, and unresponsive apps.
Microsoft confirmed that users of Microsoft 365 faced delays, particularly with Outlook. By 21:00 GMT, most affected websites were restored after engineers rolled back a faulty update.
Azure cloud disruption triggers global ripple effect
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, which powers a large portion of the internet, reported “service degradation” around 16:00 GMT. The company said “DNS issues” caused the disruption—the same fault behind a recent Amazon Web Services outage.
Amazon confirmed its systems continued operating normally.
In the UK, Asda, M&S, and O2 websites went offline. In the US, Starbucks and Kroger users also reported temporary outages.
Businesses work to maintain services
Microsoft said many corporate clients using Microsoft 365 were among the hardest hit. Some of its own pages displayed the error message, “Uh oh! Something went wrong with the previous request.”
With its service status page unavailable, Microsoft posted live updates on X to keep users informed.
NatWest reported brief website downtime but said mobile banking, chat, and phone services remained operational.
Consumer group urges companies to compensate users
Consumer organisation Which? called on companies to communicate clearly and support affected customers. “Customers should keep evidence of failed or delayed payments in case they need to make a claim,” said Which? legal expert Lisa Webb. She advised anyone impacted to contact providers and request fee waivers.
Scottish Parliament suspends business during outage
The Scottish Parliament paused proceedings after its online voting system failed. Lawmakers postponed a debate on land reform legislation designed to allow government intervention in private sales and the breakup of large estates.
A senior parliamentary source said the outage appeared linked to Microsoft’s global disruption.
Experts warn of dependence on few cloud giants
The full scale of the outage is uncertain, though Microsoft Azure controls roughly 20% of the global cloud market. Microsoft said the problem resulted from “an inadvertent configuration change,” an internal system adjustment with unintended consequences.
Dr Saqib Kakvi from Royal Holloway University said reliance on Microsoft, Amazon, and Google increases the internet’s vulnerability. “When one provider fails, hundreds or thousands of services collapse,” he said. “We have concentrated digital infrastructure in just a few companies.”
Digital infrastructure shown to be fragile
Professor Gregory Falco of Cornell University said the outage exposed the fragility of modern cloud systems. “Azure and AWS appear unified, but they consist of thousands of interconnected components,” he explained.
Falco noted that some systems are managed directly by providers while others rely on third parties such as CrowdStrike, whose update last year disrupted millions of Microsoft devices.
He warned that even a single technical error can trigger global outages, showing how dependent the modern internet has become on a handful of cloud networks.
