A global Microsoft outage hit Outlook, Teams, and Copilot and disrupted NHS clinics, GP practices, police forces, pharmacies, schools, and some council services in the United Kingdom, the BBC reported. About 430 million people use the tools worldwide. Microsoft said services were gradually being restored after a higher-than-usual stress on its servers, but users could still see disruption. The company and cyber-security experts ruled out a cyberattack as the cause. Microsoft said a large number of servers had become "unexpectedly unavailable," pushing traffic onto the machines that were still online.
NHS England said patients should still attend appointments unless told otherwise, use 999 in an emergency, and otherwise contact 111, 111 online, or a local pharmacy. Some GP surgeries, including practices in Hampshire and Shropshire, told patients not to send website messages and to phone or come in if the need was urgent. A National Pharmacy Association spokesperson said pharmacies were having trouble communicating with GP practices and some patients, so "waits may be longer than normal and there may be delays to some prescriptions." NHS trusts were taking steps to limit disruption to critical services. There were anecdotal reports of caesarean sections being cancelled and hospitals accepting only urgent referrals, the BBC said, though the effect on elective care had not been confirmed.
Rachel Harrison, a national secretary of the GMB union, said the outage was having a "serious impact" on ambulance and NHS trusts. Staff in 111 and 999 services were "unable to refer patient details in the normal way which is creating a massive backlog," she said, though "emergency and life-threatening call outs appear to be unaffected." Police forces including the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester Police, and Police Scotland said online forms might be affected and asked people to call about time-critical, non-emergency matters.
Jake Moore, a cyber-security adviser at ESET, compared the failure to a blocked lane on a motorway and told BBC Radio 4 that the incident should "hammer home" the need for backup communication networks. A primary head teacher near Newcastle said safeguarding reports had to be made in person. The University of Portsmouth and the University of Aberdeen extended or waived some assignment deadlines. A PR agency owner in Kent could not send pitches or invoices. A couple in Staffordshire said a house purchase due that day was delayed. Microsoft's explanation is server stress, not a hack, and restoration was gradual, not instant.