A widespread Microsoft outage on Wednesday disrupted access to several major websites, including Heathrow, NatWest, and Minecraft. The incident also affected services across the UK and US before operations gradually returned to normal later in the evening.
According to Downdetector, thousands of users reported issues with websites and online platforms over several hours. Microsoft confirmed that some users of its Microsoft 365 suite experienced delays and connection problems, particularly with Outlook and related services. By 21:00 GMT, many of the affected websites were restored after the company rolled back a recent update.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform—which powers a significant portion of the global internet—reported a “degradation of some services” beginning at 16:00 GMT. The company attributed the issue to DNS configuration errors, the same root cause behind last week’s major Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage.
While Amazon stated that its systems were operating normally, the impact of Microsoft’s outage rippled across various sectors. In the UK, websites belonging to Asda, M&S, and O2 experienced interruptions. Across the US, users reported issues accessing sites for Starbucks and Kroger.
Microsoft acknowledged that many business Microsoft 365 customers were affected. Some users encountered error messages reading “Uh oh! Something went wrong with the previous request.” The company resorted to posting status updates on X (formerly Twitter) after its own service page became inaccessible.
In the UK, NatWest’s main website went offline temporarily, though mobile banking, customer chat, and telephone services remained available.
Consumer rights organisation Which? reminded businesses of their obligation to keep customers informed and to compensate those impacted. “Customers should keep records of any failed or delayed payments in case they need to make a claim,” said Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert at Which?. She advised anyone worried about missing bills to contact the relevant company to request a fee waiver.
Meanwhile, proceedings at the Scottish Parliament were suspended due to technical issues with the parliament’s online voting system—an incident believed to be linked to the same Microsoft outage. The disruption forced a delay in debate over new land reform legislation aimed at regulating private estate sales.
Azure’s Central Role in the Internet Ecosystem
While the full extent of the outage remains unclear, Microsoft Azure is estimated to hold about 20% of the global cloud market. The company said the disruption stemmed from “an inadvertent configuration change,” implying that a routine internal system adjustment triggered unforeseen consequences.
Experts warned that the growing dependence on a handful of cloud providers—namely Microsoft, Amazon, and Google—creates systemic vulnerabilities.
“This kind of outage can cripple hundreds, if not thousands, of applications and systems,” said Dr. Saqib Kakvi of Royal Holloway University. “Economic forces have consolidated most of the world’s web infrastructure into just a few large players, effectively putting all our eggs in one of three baskets.”
Gregory Falco, an engineering professor at Cornell University, echoed that sentiment, describing the modern internet as a fragile web of interconnected systems. “When we think of Azure or AWS, we imagine a single, massive infrastructure,” he explained. “But in reality, they’re composed of thousands of smaller systems, many managed by third parties. When one of those fails, the effects can cascade globally.”
Last year, a faulty software update from CrowdStrike similarly affected more than eight million Microsoft-powered computers, underscoring the precarious nature of the internet’s backbone.
