Microsoft 365 services restored after global outage
A major IT failure disrupted services for businesses, government, and public sector organisations worldwide.
Microsoft announced on Saturday morning that all services had been restored following a major global outage. The disruption, which began around 6pm GMT on Thursday, affected millions of users worldwide, impacting email, messaging, and other Microsoft 365 applications.
The technology giant stated that the issue was caused by a technical problem unrelated to cyber threats or AI agents. Microsoft 365 services, including Outlook and Teams, experienced widespread failures, with monitoring website Downdetector recording over 130,000 reports of Outlook issues in the US at its peak. Other AI services, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude, were also disrupted.
Impact on UK Public Services
Public sector organisations in the UK faced significant disruption. Police forces across England and Wales reported being unable to receive crime reports online during the outage. NHS England confirmed that health service staff were enacting pre-existing contingency measures, which included reverting to paper records to maintain operations.
The UK Government also implemented contingency plans. Baroness Lloyd of Effra, the government cyber minister, confirmed that the issue primarily affected back-office functions. While acknowledging the inconvenience and disruption, she noted there were limited reports of impact on frontline service delivery. The minister stated she had discussed the situation with Microsoft UK's chief executive, Darren Hardman.
Microsoft has provided further updates via its Microsoft 365 admin center under reference MO1550821. The company has completed its efforts to resolve the underlying issue and restore service to all affected customers and regions.
Questions this report answers
01When did the Microsoft 365 outage begin and end?
The global outage began around 6pm GMT on Thursday. Microsoft announced that services were fully restored on Saturday morning, indicating the disruption lasted for approximately 24 hours.
02Which services were affected by the Microsoft outage?
The outage impacted a range of Microsoft 365 services, including email through Outlook, the Teams communication platform, and other business applications. Some AI services from other providers were also disrupted.
03How did UK public services respond to the outage?
Police forces in England and Wales could not receive online crime reports. The NHS enacted contingency plans, including using paper records, and the UK Government implemented its own contingency measures for back-office functions.
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