Thousands of people across the UK are facing difficulties accessing major banking apps and websites this morning (October 20) after a Google Cloud outage caused widespread disruption. Services affected include Revolut, Lloyds Bank, Halifax, HSBC, Rightmove and Royal Mail, among others.
Services Affected by the Outage
Reports began surfacing early on October 20, with Revolut customers unable to make payments, an issue thought to be linked to the Google Cloud difficulties. Other affected platforms include Bank of Scotland, DPD, Screwfix and more, according to Downdetector, which monitors outages from major companies and has recorded thousands of reports.
Google has acknowledged the outage in its service health dashboard, stating that "multiple services are experiencing issues in the europe-west2 region." The disruption may extend beyond the UK to parts of Europe.
User Reactions on Social Media
Frustrated users have taken to social media to express their annoyance. One user posted on X: "Screwfix, Rightmove and Gigged AI all down. Three of the UK's favourite businesses effected by the Google outage."
Another added: "Multiple banks (Lloyds, Revolut, Bank of Scotland and HSBC) are down for some users. This looks like a Google Cloud issue." The same user reassured others: "Importantly, your money in Revolut will be safe - this clearly isn't a hack on them and the issue lies with a third party."
Google Working to Resolve Issue
Some initially feared the websites might have been compromised by hackers, but Google has confirmed its Cloud platform has been experiencing problems since last night (October 20). The tech giant is currently working to resolve the issue.
