A global IT outage is affecting major services including airlines, banks, healthcare and broadcasters across the world. More than 1,000 flights have been cancelled around the world today so far, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. This figure - currently 1,078 - will only get bigger as the knock-on impacts grow. The firm also says today was set to be the busiest day for UK flight departures so far this year, with more than 3,200 departures scheduled – the highest number of daily departures since October 2019.

It is believed the meltdown is related to an issue at the software company Microsoft and global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike - although it is unknown if it is the same problem is affecting airports and train services across the globe.

Microsoft said on Friday morning that it was continuing to address the "lingering impact" of its 365 applications and services that are in a "degraded state" while Crowdstrike said in an automated message that it was aware of reports of crashes.

Here's what we know has been impacted so far. The list will be updated as we find out more.


Healthcare:

GP surgeries - many unable to book appointments or access patient records
Independent pharmacies - some are unable to access prescriptions and medicine deliveries have been affected.

Airports:

Heathrow - flights "operational" but there are delays
Luton - using manual systems for check-in services
London Gatwick - warning of delays
Manchester - check-in taking longer for some airlines
Edinburgh airport - longer wait times due to outage
Stansted Airport - check-in services being done manually
Liverpool Airport - airlines affected but no problems with check-in
Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany
All Spanish Airports
Sydney Airport in Australia
Hong Kong Airport
Swissport - one of the world's biggest ground handling services for airports, check-ins, and baggage - has also been impacted.

Trains:


Avanti West Coast
Gatwick Express
Great Northern
Great Western Railway
Hull Trains
London Northwestern
Lumo Railway
Northern Railway
Southern Railway
Thameslink
TransPennine
West Midlands Rail

Airlines:

Today was expected to be the busiest day for flight departures, but the following airlines are impacted by the tech outage:

Ryanair
Delta Airlines
American Airlines
Virgin Australia
SpiceJet and Akasa Air (Both low-cost Indian airlines)
WizzAir

Ferry services

Port of Dover - people told to expect longer waiting times

Emergency Services:

911 lines in Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Ohio

Broadcasters:

Sky News UK
Sky Sports News
ABC News in Australia

Banks:

Bendigo Bank in Australia
Adelaide Bank in Australia

Supermarkets:

Coles Supermarkets in Australia

Financial:

London Stock Exchange News Platform (RNS)  Sky and BBC News

The problem emerged in a piecemeal fashion, with first reports coming out of Australia.

Payment systems went down at Australian stores including Woolworths, while financial institutions such as the National Australia Bank were also affected.

Then the issues spread to the US. The state of Alaska warned that its emergency services were affected, while several of the country's airlines - United, Delta and American Airlines - grounded their flights around the globe.

Australian carriers Virgin Australia and Jetstar also had to delay or cancel flights as departure screens went blank at Sydney airport.

Tokyo-Narita and Delhi airports said services had been affected. European airports reported that the outage was causing delays, with long queues reported at London's Stansted and Gatwick and Amsterdam's Schiphol.

Ryanair said it was experiencing "potential disruptions across the network", which it said were due to a third-party outage.

Broadcasters were also caught up in the chaos, including Sky News in the UK, which is off air.

As the full extent of the disruption became clear, more firms and institutions started reporting problems.

The London Stock Exchange said it was working as normal, but there were issues with its news service, used by companies to report market-sensitive information in a timely way.

Israel says 15 hospitals have switched to manual processes but this has not affected medical treatment. Ambulances are being told to take new cases to other hospitals.

And Poland’s largest container terminal, the Baltic Hub in the northern city of Gdansk, has said the outage is "hampering terminal operations" and has asked companies not to send containers to the port.

In the UK, railway companies have reported delays and said they were experiencing "widespread IT issues", while some doctors' surgeries in England reported issues with booking appointments.

The problems have extended to upmarket UK bakery chain Gail's, which has said it is currently unable to take in-store payments.

Foreign Media Sources