UK Services Face Severe Disruption From Global Microsoft Outage

A major technical disruption affecting Microsoft's popular services began late Thursday afternoon, leaving key institutions across the UK unable to access essential IT systems and emails. The NHS experienced serious widespread issues, impacting appointment management, internal communications, and prescription coordination between pharmacies and GP practices. While officials stated there were no early indications of a cyber-attack and Microsoft reported early signs of system stabilisation, the incident exposed severe vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. Government engineers worked alongside the tech firm to assess the damage as organizations scrambled to implement contingency plans.