Thousands of BT customers were left frustrated on Tuesday as the telecom giant's email services suffered a major outage, leaving users unable to access their inboxes for hours.
The disruption, which began in the early afternoon, affected both personal and business accounts, with many reporting error messages when attempting to log in to their BT Mail accounts.
Widespread Impact on Businesses
Small businesses relying on BT's services were particularly hard-hit, with many unable to send or receive important client communications. "This couldn't have come at a worse time," said Manchester-based accountant Sarah Wilkins. "We've got quarterly reports due and can't access any of our client correspondence."
Technical Troubles Deepen
BT acknowledged the issues on social media, stating their engineers were "working urgently" to resolve the problem. However, the company provided no immediate explanation for what caused the system failure.
Internet forums and social media quickly filled with complaints from affected users across the country:
- "Completely locked out of my business email for 4 hours now"
- "BT's status page shows everything operational - clearly not the case"
- "No warning, no updates - terrible service"
Recovery Efforts Underway
By late evening, some users reported gradual restoration of service, though many continued to experience intermittent access problems. BT advised customers to clear browser caches and restart devices if issues persisted.
This marks the second significant outage for BT Mail services this year, raising questions about the reliability of the UK's former telecommunications monopoly in an increasingly digital-dependent world.
