A massive Microsoft outage on Wednesday disrupted key online platforms across the globe. Heathrow Airport, NatWest, and Minecraft were among the services taken offline for several hours before engineers restored access later in the evening. Millions of users faced interruptions to banking, work, and entertainment services.
Thousands report 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 applications.
Microsoft confirmed that Microsoft 365 users experienced delays, particularly with Outlook. By 21:00 GMT, most affected websites were back online after engineers rolled back a faulty update.
Azure cloud disruption sends ripple effects worldwide
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, which underpins much of the internet, reported “service degradation” around 16:00 GMT. The company traced the problem to “DNS issues,” the same fault behind last week’s Amazon Web Services outage.
Amazon confirmed its systems remained fully operational.
In the UK, Asda, M&S, and O2 websites went offline. In the US, Starbucks and Kroger users also reported temporary outages.
Businesses scramble to maintain services
Microsoft said corporate clients using Microsoft 365 were among the hardest hit. Some of its own web pages displayed the error message: “Uh oh! Something went wrong with the previous request.”
With its service status page offline, Microsoft posted live updates on X to keep users informed.
NatWest reported brief website downtime but confirmed mobile banking, chat, and phone services remained operational.
Consumer watchdog calls for transparency and compensation
Consumer group Which? urged companies to provide clear communication and support for affected customers. “Customers should keep evidence of failed or delayed payments in case they need to make a claim,” said legal expert Lisa Webb. She advised anyone impacted to contact providers and request waivers for late fees.
Scottish Parliament halts proceedings amid outage
The Scottish Parliament paused business after its online voting system failed. Lawmakers postponed debate on land reform legislation that would allow government intervention in private land sales and the breakup of large estates.
A senior parliamentary source said the outage appeared linked to Microsoft’s global disruption.
Experts warn of overreliance on few cloud giants
The full scale of the outage remains unclear, though Microsoft Azure controls roughly 20% of the global cloud market. Microsoft said the incident resulted from “an inadvertent configuration change,” an internal adjustment with unintended consequences.
Dr Saqib Kakvi from Royal Holloway University warned that 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 global digital infrastructure into just a few companies.”
Digital infrastructure proves fragile
Professor Gregory Falco of Cornell University said the outage revealed the fragility of modern cloud systems. “Azure and AWS may appear unified, but they are composed 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 modern society has become on a handful of cloud networks.
