Airlines, TV channels, banks and businesses across the world have been hit by a large-scale IT outage.
In the UK, Sky News was been knocked off air, while Britain’s biggest rail company warned passengers to expect disruption due to “widespread IT issues” – just as rush hour hit.
While further afield, banks, supermarkets and other major institutions reported computer issues disrupting services, with certain airlines warning of delays and some airports grounding flights.
In the US, hospitals reported IT systems outages in major cities including Los Angeles and New York earlier this morning, while Microsoft Office users in Australia found themselves locked out of their virtual workstations as the tech firm moved to clean up the issues.
Microsoft Office users in Australia found themselves locked out of their virtual workstations
Getty
Ryanair has said its flights are being disrupted by the outage
PA
Sky News’ TV broadcasts have been scuppered by the IT outage
Sky News
Ryanair has said its flights are being disrupted by the outage; in a statement today, the low-cost airline wrote: “We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a global third party IT outage which is out of our control.
“We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.”
US carriers United, Delta and American Airlines all issued a “global ground stop” on their flights – and though planes currently in the air will press on, further flights are set to remain grounded for the foreseeable future.
Virgin Australia, which runs frequent commuter services between major cities in the country, also issued a similar “total ground stop” notice, with “no flights going in or out”.
More to follow…