Windows global IT outage: what we know so far
1. What has the Windows outage affected?
Companies including banks, telecommunications companies, TV and radio broadcasters and supermarkets around the globe all reported IT issues. Airlines were also affected, with flights on US airlines including American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines being grounded. Airports in Germany and Spain were also reporting issues.
Automated boarding scanners at Edinburgh airport went offline, a witness from the Reuters news agency said. The airport was checking boarding passes manually, the witness said.
It is unclear whether operations were affected at Stansted airport, but many flights were displaying “please wait” announcements on the boards inside.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport said: “There is currently a global system failure. This disruption also has an impact on flights to and from Schiphol. The impact is now being mapped.”
Berlin’s Brandenburg airport said that “due to a technical fault, there will be delays in check-in”.
The emergency 911 lines in the US state of Alaska went down, according to the state troopers service. “Due to a nationwide technology-related outage, many 911 and non-emergency call centres are not working correctly across the State of Alaska,” a statement read.
In the UK, services at Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern rail services – all four of Govia Thameslink Railway’s brands – were experiencing widespread IT issues.
The London Stock Exchange is among businesses that have been affected. In a statement, it said: “RNS news service is currently experiencing a 3rd party global technical issue, preventing news from being published on www.londonstockexchange.com. Technical teams are working to restore the service. Other services across the Group, including London Stock Exchange, continue to operate as normal.”
The NHS booking system used by doctors in England is also offline, medical officials said on X.
TV and radio broadcasters were affected, and SkyNews was not been able to broadcast live TV on Friday morning. David Rhodes, the executive chair of the Sky News Group, said on X: “Sky News have not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, currently telling viewers that we apologise for the interruption. Much of our news report is still available online, and we are working hard to restore all services.