A major Google Cloud outage earlier today disrupted banking apps, delivery services and other online platforms, leaving some customers unable to access services or complete transactions.
The outage affected several major UK services, including Revolut, Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, Royal Mail, DPD and Rightmove. NHS England and the UK courts’ remote hearing service also experienced disruption, according to international media reports.
The incident highlights how a technical failure at a major cloud provider can affect businesses across different sectors that depend on its infrastructure.
Power disruption at Google Cloud’s London zone
Google Cloud traced the incident to a “power event” in its europe-west2 region, which is based in London. The disruption began at around 6:08 a.m. GMT, with Google reporting errors and intermittent network failures affecting services in the region.
The company later said its engineering teams had restored full service availability. Google also said it would provide further details after completing its investigation.
Among the affected companies was Revolut, the UK-based fintech company that offers digital banking, card payments and money transfer services. Some customers reported difficulties accessing services, making card payments and withdrawing cash from ATMs.
Revolut said customers’ money and data remained safe. The company also apologised for the disruption as it worked to restore affected services.
Other financial institutions, including Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, also experienced problems with some of their online services.
The impact extended beyond banking. Royal Mail and DPD users reported problems with delivery-related services, while customers also experienced disruption on Rightmove, a major UK property website. Royal Mail said the incident had not affected its letter and parcel deliveries despite the reported online service problems.
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NHS England’s digital services were also affected, underlining the role cloud infrastructure plays in supporting services that people rely on daily.
Although the outage was centred on London, its effects could reach businesses in other countries that rely on infrastructure hosted in the affected region. However, reports available so far have not identified any specific African banks or fintech companies affected by the incident.
The disruption adds to the risks businesses face when they depend on major cloud providers to run essential digital services. When an outage affects a shared infrastructure provider, the consequences can spread across multiple companies and industries at once.
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