Why is my computer not working? Mass IT outage brings down Microsoft Windows, media sites and airports

Major banks, media outlets and airlines have all been affected. Microsoft told AFP news agency that it is taking "mitigation actions" in a bit to solve the service issues.

They were first reported at 6pm yesterday evening. The company said it is investigating issues with cloud services in the USA, and an issue impacting several of its apps and services.

The fault has already impacted UK train companies. South Western Railway reported this morning that all of its ticket machines are broken, with Southern Rail also stating that the IT fault has impacted its display boards and other services.

SR said: “We are currently experiencing widespread IT issues across our entire network. Our IT teams are actively investigating to determine the root cause of the problem. We are unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, leading to potential short-notice cancellations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks. Additionally, other key systems, including our real-time customer information platforms, are also affected.”

SWR added: “Due to IT issues across the South Western Railway network all ticket vending machines are currently non operational. Please purchase your ticket online, on the train or speak to a member of station staff. We apologise for the inconvenience this causes.”

Departure boards have gone down at Edinburgh airport, Ryanair have reported disruptions across all its travel networks and advised all customers to arrive three hours early before their departure time. Sky News is currently off the air in the UK. The national news broadcaster said they hope to restore transmission shortly.

Overnight, Microsoft confirmed it was investigating an “issue” with its 365 apps and operating systems, and although it said it had recovered some services, warned that the issue was ongoing and users should expect “service degradation” according to a status page on its website. According to cyber security expert Troy Hunt, an IT issue at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike was causing much of the outage.