Sweltering passengers have been forced to queue for hours at airports in the UK on the hottest day of the year after a global tech meltdown triggered travel mayhem.
The mass Microsoft outage has sparked chaos around the globe, with TV channels knocked out and banks taken offline.
The IT pandemonium has led to ‘bedlam’ and huge three-hour queues at Gatwick Airport, with holidaymakers struggling to check in.
Meanwhile, at Stansted and Edinburgh airports, lines of queuing passengers have been seen stretching outside the terminals.
Passengers have been left to sizzle in long lines as a mini heatwave brought temperatures of 31C to south-east England, with the day set to be the hottest of the year so far.
It comes as Britain braces for its busiest day for air travel since before the Covid pandemic, with millions of families preparing for their summer breaks, with train and ferry services also affected by the tech blackout.
The Microsoft outage comes as:
- Heathrow, Manchester, Luton, Bristol and Edinburgh airports are hit by delays
- Passengers at Gatwick reported ‘bedlam’ and three-hour queues after the crash
- Govia Thameslink Railway, the parent firm of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern warned passengers of disruption
- The Port of Dover warned of disruption with 40-minute queues due to IT crash
- Vital NHS services, including GP booking system, have all gone down
EDINBURGH: Queues at the airport could be seen stretching out of the departure terminal’s door on Friday morning
HEATHROW: Passengers were left stuck in huge lines as the global IT crash continues to cause mayhem at airports worldwide
STANSTED: Thousands of holidaymakers have been forced to queue while check-ins were done manually
GATWICK: Passengers in the South Terminal are left stuck with their suitcases as the disruption rages on
GATWICK: Holidaymakers at the airport have been left stranded and unable to check-in following the Microsoft outage
At Gatwick, alert boards warned weary travellers they may ‘experience disruption’ due to a ‘major worldwide IT outage’
One traveller queuing for more than three-and-a-half hours said Gatwick was complete ‘bedlam’, with staff handing out water to those stranded.
Dean Seddon started queuing at 6am to check in for a trip with his social media training company to Miami, Florida, ahead of their scheduled departure at 10am with Norse Atlantic Airways.
‘There are just people everywhere, there must be 400 people in this queue for the check in desk I’m at… it’s just bedlam,’ the 42-year-old from Plymouth told the PA news agency.
‘It’s one of those things where you kind of know we’re not going to fly, but you don’t want to leave because you don’t know.
‘(Staff are) doing the best they can but they don’t actually know when it’s going to be fixed, so it is frustrating, but you kind of feel for the staff as well.’
Mr Seddon said there had been some people getting ‘agitated’ in the queue but overall travellers had remained calm.
Elaine Bevan, a retired nurse from Southampton, has been waiting in line at Gatwick Airport for over two hours to check in for her 2pm flight to Orlando, Florida.
The 70-year-old booked the two-week trip with her family in November 2023 and said she will wait as long as necessary because the holiday has been booked for such a ‘long time’.
Warning boards at Gatwick Airport have informed passengers about the ‘major worldwide IT system outrage’ which may cause them to ‘experience delays’
A holidaymaker described the scene at Gatwick as ‘bedlam’. Pictured are passengers in the South Terminal of the airport
Passengers have been forced to settle down with their luggage as they wait for the IT woes to finish (pictured are people in Gatwick Airport on Friday)
These two men at Gatwick took refuged by the escalators as they sought to wait out the chaos
Ms Bevan said: ‘We’re all getting a bit tired. It took us ages to find the queue in the first place.’
Asked if she was prepared to wait until the evening for the flight, she said: ‘I think we have to. It’s been booked for a long time – since November last year.’
She asked: ‘In the world where IT is king, why does it not perform as it should?’
Marcello Jones is flying to Los Angeles where he studies law.
The 25-year-old from Cornwall said he ‘hopes’ to get his money back, but added: ‘We’ll see what happens. There is not much I can do. I just want to get on the plane.’
Most passengers at Gatwick remained in good spirits thanks to bottles of water being handed out and sufficient air conditioning within the airport.
Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, has also been hit with a spokesman saying the travel hub was implementing contingency plans to ‘minimise’ the impact of the global IT outage.
The spokesperson said: ‘Microsoft is currently experiencing a global outage which is impacting select systems at Heathrow.
‘Flights are operational and we are implementing contingency plans to minimise any impact on journeys.
‘Passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest flight information.’
Customers at Gatwick have reported long queues inside the airport following the IT outage
Thousands of people suffered a similar issue at London Standsted Airport in Essex, with holidaymakers pictured stuck in long queues
Heathrow, Britain’s busiest airport, was also facing severe disruption on Friday due to the Microsoft IT failure
Huge queues in Gatwick have formed as the IT meltdown continues to cause travel mayhem
In Essex, the queue at London Stansted Airport snaked outside the main terminal building on Friday as an IT outage caused delays.
Courtney Kemal, 32, who had already been in the queue for around two hours by late morning, said her two sons aged five and seven were ‘obviously getting stressed’.
The business student, of Romford, east London, said their Ryanair flight taking them on an eight-day holiday to Magaluf was due to leave at 12.40pm and they had arrived at 9am.
She said she had heard ‘nothing’ from the airline and said ‘we had no warning of this’.
‘Additionally, other key systems, including our real-time customer information platforms, are also affected.
‘We will provide additional updates when we can. In the meantime, please regularly check your journey before you travel.’
Gatwick Express also warned travellers they are ‘currently experiencing widespread IT issues’ across the entire network.
Meanwhile, South Western Railway confirmed there will be major disruption for their passengers too.
‘Due to IT issues across the South Western Railway network all ticket vending machines are currently non operational,’ a message read on X.
Pictured are people queuing at the Wizzair desk in Gatwick Airport amid the travel mayhem
Trains across the UK are expected to face disruption following the Microsoft system fault
Travellers on railway across the UK are being warned of potential disruption following the IT glitch. Pictured are passengers at London’s Victoria railway station
Passengers buying tickets at Victoria train station, London, amid reports of widespread IT outages affecting airlines
‘Please purchase your ticket online, on the train or speak to a member of station staff.
‘We apologise for the inconvenience this causes.’
A photo posted on social media shows long queues at Luton Airport.
The image, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, is accompanied by a caption stating that a ‘system failure’ is causing ‘massive queues’.
Edinburgh Airport has also been hit by the IT outage, with officials warning jetsetters the meltdown is causing longer waiting times.
A spokesperson said: ‘An IT system outage means wait times are longer than usual at the airport. This outage is affecting many other businesses, including airports.
‘Work is ongoing to resolve this and our teams are on hand to assist where we can. Passengers are thanked for their patience.’
Neighbouring Glasgow airport said it has been largely unaffected by the outage.
While Bristol Airport said some of its retailers are unable to accept card payments and advised passengers to check with their airlines before travelling.
On X, formerly Twitter, it posted: ‘A global IT issue is impacting travel. We advise passengers to contact their airlines for the latest flight information before travelling to the Airport.
‘Some of our retailers are currently unable to accept cards – we recommend passengers bring cash if possible.’
Passengers at Gatwick Airport as a massive Microsoft outage caused chaos in the aviation sector
Passengers at Gatwick have reported three-hour queues at check-in following the IT crash (Gatwick is pictured on Friday morning with passengers stuck in the airport)
SPAIN: There were similar scenes of mayhem in other airports, with passengers at Barajas Airport, also pictured stuck
GERMANY: Passengers wait in front of check-in counters at the capital’s Berlin Brandenburg Airport on Friday
GERMANY: Holidaymakers in Berlin were forced to make the best of a bad situation, sitting on the floor while they waited
HONG KONG: Large queues have also formed at other airports, including Hong Kong International Airport (pictured)
The technical glitch with Microsoft’s tech was reported on Friday morning
The IT meltdown has affected shops globally, with customers unable to pay for their shopping (pictured is a store in Canberra, Australia)
Checkout terminals in stores are unable to process transactions due to the IT crash
Ryanair has also seemingly been hit with the issue after it posted on its website urging passengers to arrive at airports three hours early blaming a ‘third party IT issue, which is outside Ryanair’s control and affect all airlines operating across the network’.
In a statement, the firm said: ‘Potential disruptions across the network (Fri 19 July) due to a global 3rd party system outage.
‘Affected passengers will be notified and any passengers travelling across the network on Fri 19 July should check their Ryanair app for the latest updates on their flight.
‘We advise passengers to arrive at the airport 3 hours in advance of their flight to avoid any disruptions.
‘We regret any inconvenience caused to passengers by this 3rd party IT issue, which is outside of Ryanair’s control and affects all airlines operating across the network.’
Manchester Airport has said the Microsoft meltdown is only affecting Swissport, which handles some ground work for a few airlines.
Holidaymakers are still being checked-in manually which means delays for those travelling on flights supplied by Swissport.
A Manchester Airport spokesman confirmed passengers don’t need to change their travel arrangements and ‘we don’t want people thinking they need to come to the airport earlier because that can cause overcrowding’.
And as the outage continues to cause travel chaos, air passengers in India are being given hand-written boarding passes, with budget airline IndiGo among those handing out the make-shift tickets.
This disruption coincides with what is set to be the busiest day for UK flight departures this year, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
About 3,214 flights are set to depart from UK airports, marking the highest daily figure since October 2019. But the Microsoft IT failure has already led 1,078 cancellation of flights globally – with this figure set to increase.
From Friday to Sunday a total of 9,075 flights are scheduled to take off from UK airports, transporting 1.6 million people. It represents a four per cent rise in scheduled departures compared to the same weekend in 2023.
Meanwhile, those hoping to escape the UK by boat for the start of the school holidays will be facing disruption too, with the Port of Dover reporting delays.
Queues are reportedly up to 40 minutes long, with a spokesman for the ferry port saying: ‘We are currently experiencing IT outages and are processing traffic through border control. Dwell times were slightly longer for check-ins this morning, but this has been resolved. Queue in the bugger zone is 40 minutes.’
The IT shutdown has also led to trains being delayed across the UK (a train is pictured this morning)
The Port of Dover and P&O Ferries – which operates from Dover and elsewhere in the UK – warned of disruption due to the outage
Train firm South Western Railway also said some of its ‘customer-facing’ services like ticket machines, were down due to the IT blackout – but insisted trains were ‘running well’
On the trains, National Rail Enquiries told passengers: ‘There are currently widespread IT issues across the entire network.
‘IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem.
‘As a result, some train operators are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice train cancellations.
‘Additionally, other key systems, including real-time customer information platforms, are also affected.’
South Western Rail added the IT shutdown was having an impact on some of its ‘customer facing systems’ like ticket machines, but insisted ‘train services are currently running well’.
US cyber security company CrowdStrike has admitted to being responsible for the error, as they report on their website they are ‘working on it’.
Sky News viewers were left with a static message on their TVs apologising for the ‘disruption’ to the service at 6am when broadcasting was meant to begin.
Sky News has gone off air, as the TV channel appears to be hit with ongoing technical issues
UK Sky Sports Presenter Jacquie Beltrao posted on X: ‘We’re obviously not on air – we’re trying @SkyNews Breakfast’
Microsoft users around the world have taken to social media to express their confusion at their computers shutting down
It read: ‘We apologise for the interuption to this broadcast. We hope to restore the transmission of Sky News shortly.’
The issue is impacting companies globally with online reports that Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, the US and the UK have all been effected.
While in the US emergency services lines are reportedly down in Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Ohio.
Microsoft has posted on its social media account that is was ‘investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services’.
Microsoft users around the world have taken to social media to express their frustration and confusion at their computers also shutting down.
Sky Sports Presenter Jacquie Beltrao has posted on X saying: ‘We’re obviously not on air – we’re trying @SkyNews Breakfast.’
This has also lead to travel chaos as passengers attempting to board flights have been unable to check in due to the technical issues.
American Airlines was forced to ground its flights this morning due to a communication issue, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s status page.
According to service status monitoring website Downdetector, users were reporting issues with the services of Visa, BT, major supermarket chains, banks, online gaming platforms and media outlets.
A number of cybersecurity experts are reporting that a faulty update from CrowdStrike could be the cause of the outage.
Toby Murray, associate professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne, said: ‘CrowdStrike Falcon has been linked to this widespread outage. CrowdStrike is a global cybersecurity and threat intelligence company.
‘Falcon is what is known as an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platform, which monitors the computers that it is installed on to detect intrusions – hacks – and respond to them. That means that Falcon is a pretty privileged piece of software in that it is able to influence how the computers it is installed on behave.
‘For example, if it detects that a computer is infected with malware that is causing the computer to communicate with an attacker, then Falcon could conceivably block that communication from occurring. If Falcon is suffering a malfunction then it could be causing a widespread outage for two reasons – one: Falcon is widely deployed on many computers, and two: because of Falcon’s privileged nature.
‘Falcon is a bit like anti-virus software: it is regularly updated with information about the latest online threats – so it can better detect them. We have certainly seen anti-virus updates in the past causing problems e.g. here.
‘It is possible that today’s outage may have been caused by a buggy update to Falcon.’
