THE TELEGRAPH: Microsoft is grappling with a major global tech blackout, leaving millions of users and businesses unable to access their emails and other programs, including Microsoft 365, Outlook and Teams.
Schools, the NHS, police services and businesses in the UK are all affected by the tech failure, which has dragged on for more than 14 hours since problems began at around 6pm GMT on Thursday.
The service blackout has spread worldwide, affecting Microsoft services in 74 countries and territories, including the UK, the US, Asia and Australia according to website-tracker Downdetector.
The tech giant blamed the issue on an “elevated load” on its infrastructure after servers unexpectedly became unavailable, putting more pressure on its remaining systems.
Executives insisted there was “no indication” that the company had been hit with a cyber attack. An update on Friday morning said the recovery efforts were “ongoing”. » | Chris Price | Markets Editor | Friday, November 13, 2026
