Overview
- The disruption began on Thursday evening, November 12, and has affected Microsoft email, Outlook, Teams and web reporting forms used by police, fire services and some NHS referral systems.
- Microsoft says the fault spans at least 74 countries and was caused by elevated load on its infrastructure with no evidence of a cyber attack.
- Several UK forces, including Merseyside and Wiltshire police, have warned people not to use online report forms and are directing non-emergencies to call 101 or send direct messages on social media.
- Unions have reported that some 111 and 999 call handlers are facing referral delays and a growing backlog while some organisations such as South Western Ambulance Service report normal operations because they use separate internal systems.
- The outage underlines how reliance on a single cloud provider can shift routine digital work onto phone lines and manual processes, increasing the risk of delays and prompting local contingency plans.