A severe Microsoft outage on Wednesday disrupted key online services across the globe. Heathrow Airport, NatWest, and Minecraft were among the platforms taken offline for several hours before engineers restored access later that evening. Millions of users faced interruptions to banking, work, and entertainment services.
Thousands report system failures globally
Outage tracker Downdetector recorded thousands of complaints from users unable to access websites, send emails, or log into accounts. Many faced frozen pages, stalled transactions, and unresponsive apps.
Microsoft confirmed that users of Microsoft 365 experienced delays, particularly with Outlook. By 21:00 GMT, most affected websites were back online after engineers rolled back a faulty software update.
Azure cloud disruption ripples across the internet
Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, which supports much of the internet, reported “service degradation” around 16:00 GMT. The company traced the issue to “DNS problems,” the same fault behind a recent 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 keep services running
Microsoft said corporate clients using Microsoft 365 were among the hardest hit. Some of its own pages displayed an error message reading, “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 said mobile banking, chat, and phone services remained operational.
Consumer group urges companies to take responsibility
Consumer organisation Which? called on businesses to provide clear communication and support to 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 halts business amid 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 land sales and the breakup of large estates.
A senior parliamentary source said the disruption appeared linked to Microsoft’s global outage.
Experts warn of reliance on a 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 problem was caused by “an inadvertent configuration change,” an internal adjustment with unintended consequences.
Dr Saqib Kakvi from Royal Holloway University warned that dependence on Microsoft, Amazon, and Google increases vulnerability. “When one provider fails, hundreds or thousands of services collapse,” he said. “We have concentrated digital infrastructure into just a few hands.”
Digital infrastructure proves fragile
Professor Gregory Falco of Cornell University said the outage highlighted the fragility of modern cloud systems. “Azure and AWS may seem unified, but they are made up of thousands of interconnected components,” he explained.
Falco noted that some systems are managed by providers directly, 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 worldwide outages, showing how dependent modern society has become on a small number of cloud networks.
