A global outage at Microsoft is causing widespread disruptions across the north-west of England, affecting critical services such as police, airports, hospitals, and schools. The issue, which began on Thursday, has impacted Microsoft's email, messaging, and other online services, leading to operational challenges for various institutions. Microsoft has stated that the disruption is not due to a cyber-security breach and is continuing efforts to restore services.
Police forces in Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, and Merseyside have reported issues with online forms and live chat services, advising the public to call 101 for non-emergency reports. Manchester Airport has confirmed that while operational systems remain unaffected, minor technical processes have been disrupted. The airport is using workarounds for domestic passenger processing but will update social media if further issues arise.
Hospitals under the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, including those in Salford, Oldham, Rochdale, and Bury, have reported email service disruptions. Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust noted that staff emails are primarily affected, but patients should still attend their appointments as scheduled. Schools in the region, such as Fleetwood High School, are contacting parents to provide alternative communication methods, advising them to use telephone calls for urgent matters.
The University of Manchester has warned staff about potential disruptions to email, online meetings, and shared files, affecting services like Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. The university recommends using telephone calls or text messages for urgent communications and saving documents directly to computers if online services are unavailable.