Widespread IT outages are affecting airlines, broadcasters and banks this morning.
Overnight, IT giant Microsoft confirmed it was investigating an “issue” with its 365 apps and operating systems, and although it said it had recovered some services, warned that the issue was ongoing and users should expect “service degradation” according to a status page on its website.
According to cyber security expert Troy Hunt, an IT issue at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike was causing much of the outage.
Ryanair has warned of “potential disruptions across the network” due to a global third party system outage.
On the airline’s website, it posted: “Potential disruptions across the network (Fri 19 July) due to a global 3rd party system outage.
“Affected passengers will be notified and any passengers travelling across the network on Fri 19 July should check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight.
“We advise passengers to arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance of their flight to avoid any disruptions.
“We regret any inconvenience caused to passengers by this 3rd party IT issue, which is outside of Ryanair’s control and affects all airlines operating across the network.”
Meanwhile, Sky News has been knocked off air. On Friday morning, a statement on their online page, YouTube and TV channel says: “We apologise for the interruption to this broadcast. We hope to restore the transmission of Sky News shortly.”
Britain’s biggest train company has also warned passengers to expect disruption due to “widespread IT issues”.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) – parent company of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern – issued an alert on the brands’ social media channels.
The message stated: “We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network.”
Around the world, banks, supermarkets and other major institutions reported computer issues disrupting services, with some airlines warning of delays and some airports grounding flights.
London Stansted Airport said that some airline check-in services are being done manually as a result of the IT outage, but “flights are still operating as normal”.
A spokesperson said: “Some retail payment machine services have been impacted, and some airline check-in services reverted to being done manually, but our main operational systems are unaffected and flights are still operating as normal.”
More to follow.