Global Microsoft IT outage hits Lancashire supermarkets, shops, doctors as flights grounded at Manchester

Businesses and institutions around the world have been been knocked offline after a major IT outage, believed to have been caused by a faulty update to widely used cybersecurity software.

Major infrastructure including airlines, train companies, banks and media outlets have ground to a halt after their computer systems were knocked offline or leaving devices showing the so-called “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD).

In the UK, Sky News went off air, while Britain’s biggest train company warned passengers to expect disruption because of “widespread IT issues”, as did many major airlines and airports.

Across Lancashire, GP surgeries have reported being unable to book appointments or access patient records as their EMIS Web system went down. The IT outage is “causing disruption in the majority of GP practices” in England, said NHS England, but there is currently no known impact on 999 or emergency services.

Many of the county’s pharmacies are also affected, leaving them unable to process prescriptions from GPs.

Morrisons, Booths and Spar affected

Morrisons at Preston Docks is unable to take contactless or phone payments, but you can still pay with cash or insert you card.

Customers have also reported disruption at Booths and SPAR stores.

Lawrence Hunt & Co, which runs a number of SPAR branches across Lancashire, said its tills and cash machines are affected. They are currently taking cash only.

Microsoft has confirmed it is aware of and fixing issues with its cloud platform, Azure, but many cybersecurity experts have reported the potential source of the issue as global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which provides cyber attack monitoring and protection to many major businesses.

Planes grounded at Manchester Airport

Manchester Airport said the IT outage is causing longer waiting times, with some flights cancelled or delayed.

Among the impacted firms are Ryanair, with the airline posting to its website: “Potential disruptions across the network (Fri 19 July) due to a global third 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 three hours in advance of their flight to avoid any disruptions.

“We regret any inconvenience caused to passengers by this third party IT issue, which is outside of Ryanair’s control and affects all airlines operating across the network.”

“Not a cyber attack”

In a statement on social media, cyber security firm CrowdStrike said the global IT outage was “not a security incident or cyberattack”, adding: “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed”.