Microsoft IT outage live: Travellers still stranded as experts warn problem is likely to happen again
It could take weeks for global tech infrastructure to fully recover, experts warn
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CrowdStrike said a significant number of the over 8.5 million devices affected from Friday’s botched software update are back online.
The outage led to over 1,500 cancelled flights in the US and dozens more across the UK for the third day in a row, leaving passengers stranded across airports.
Hospitals, GPs, pharmacies, banks, supermarkets and millions of businesses have also been impacted.
CrowdStrike said the outage was caused by a defect in an update to its “Falcon” cybersecurity defence software for Windows hosts.
Over the weekend, Microsoft released a recovery tool to help repair Windows machines hit by the glitch that affected over 8.5 million devices.
However, experts warned that it could take weeks for global tech infrastructure to fully recover.
“Even if we could guarantee it could be fully fixed on Monday GPs would still need time to catch up from lost work over the weekend, and NHSE should make clear to patients that normal service cannot be resumed immediately,” David Wrigley, deputy chair of GPC England at the BMA, said.
8.5 million computers running Windows affected by faulty update from CrowdStrike
Tui cancels flights and holidays as passengers wait at departure gates
NHS warns of continued disruption to GP services next week from global IT outage
National Lottery app and website goes down across UK amid global IT outage
Air passenger compensation: What are your rights when a flight goes wrong?
Watch: Simon Calder explains your rights if flight is cancelled by global IT outage
Air passenger compensation: What are your rights when a flight goes wrong?
Your flight is cancelled, overbooked or delayed: what, if anything, does the airline owe you?
The rules are tangled and depend on where your flight begins and the airline involved. Sometimes you may be entitled to a hotel room, all meals and hundreds of pounds in cash; in other circumstances you may just have to put a dismal aviation episode down to expensive experience, and see if your travel insurer can help.
To complicate matters further, some airlines do not have a great record about telling passengers about their rights or delivering the stipulated care and cash.
Travel Correspondent Simon Calder’s guide should make you aware of your entitlements, even if the airline fails to do so:
What are your rights when a flight goes wrong?
Rules for cancellations, overbooking and long delays are tangled. This guide is here to help
Simon Calder asks: “Could summer city breaks simply be too risky?”
In his weekly column for The Independent, travel correspondent Simon Calder praises “summer in the city” as “one of the true joys of travel”.
He writes: “For outbound British travellers, summer is a marvellous opportunity to trespass gleefully in someone else’s city.
“Whether you are in Manchester, Milan or Montreal, July and August are special times. These are densely populated, hard-working business cities. But come summer, many of the locals leave town and create a vacuum that tourists can fill with ease.
“Life for visitors, as well as residents who have stayed behind, spills out into the streets and squares, with picnics the common denominator. For all the passing travellers, the city feels spacious.
“Yet perhaps the summer city break has had its day. This year aviation chaos has been a regular weekend feature."
On Sunday easyJet has grounded flights to Milan, Rome and Hamburg, while British Airways has axed departures to Barcelona and Geneva.
“Many of us try to squeeze a short break between Friday and Sunday. Who wants to have their travel dream taken away as you queue at the gate at Heathrow or Gatwick, or being forced to find workarounds if the planned flight home vanishes?
“A summer break should be the epitome of anticipation: deliciously awaiting the chance to revel in urban bliss. But an unholy trinity of air-traffic control staff shortage, summer storms and IT failures potentially stand between you and metropolitan indulgence.
“Recent events undermine confidence; apprehension is not an emotion that sits easily with travel.”
More than 600 UK flights cancelled since Friday – affecting 100,000 passengers
The scale of the cancellations afflicting airline passengers to, from and within the UK as a result of the CloudStrike IT failure is becoming clearer, with final figures for Friday and Saturday now available.
The aviation analytics firm, Cirium, says 408 arrivals and departures at UK airport were cancelled on Friday 19 July. This was on a day that was expected to be the busiest for UK aviation since 2019 – but the cancellations meant it fell well short.
While many airlines and airports said they hoped to be back to normal on Saturday, a further 119 flights were cancelled.
As of 10.30am on Sunday, Cirium calculate a further 88 flights to, from or within the UK had been cancelled, taking the total over the peak weekend of the year so far to over 600 grounded flights. It is likely that at least 100,000 passengers have had their flight axed.
Worldwide, almost 12,000 flights have been cancelled since Friday.
Scammers target frustrated travellers after mass cancellations
Fraudsters are using “imposter” social media sites to target travellers whose flights are among the hundreds to have been cancelled since Friday.
Many passengers are taking to social media to complain. Scammers, though to be based in East Africa, have set up dozens of “imposter accounts” on X/Twitter that pretend to be official airline and holiday company representatives.
They respond to the frustrated traveller and ask for a phone number so they can arrange compensation.
Anyone who provides one will then be called on WhatsApp and persuaded to download a legitimate remittance app and link it to their bank account. The scammer then assures the customer they will be sent money, while in fact they are tricked into sending money to an unknown recipient.
easyJet cancellations double at Gatwick
This afternoon the number of easyJet cancellations to/from Gatwick has doubled, from 24 to 48. New fallers include two Amsterdam flights, Geneva, Toulouse, Marseille and Naples.
Previously announced: grounded flights to/from Palma, Faro and Pisa.
Aer Lingus has axed 2 Heathrow-Dublin round-trips.
When a flight is cancelled, the airline must provide the passenger with a replacement as soon as possible – including on a rival airline if need be. It must also book a hotel room and provide meals if necessary.
But many passengers have told The Independent that their airline has said only its own flights can be used.
Tui passengers learn of cancellations at the departure gate
Europe’s biggest travel firm, Tui, is cancelling more peak-season package holidays as it struggles to recover from the CrowdStrike chaos.
The firm’s crew rostering system was impacted by Friday’s IT outage. Tui grounded 64 holiday flights to and from the UK on Friday, with further delays and cancellations on Saturday and Sunday.
The company is taking the highly unusual step of cancelling entire package holidays to manage down the scale of its problems – which are particularly acute at Manchester airport.
Travel Correspondent Simon Calder reports:
Tui cancels flights and holidays as passengers wait at departure gates
Exclusive: Europe’s biggest holiday firm is cancelling entire package holidays to manage down the scale of its problems
Microsoft releases recovery tool to help repair Windows machines hit by CrowdStrike issue
Microsoft has released a recovery tool to help repair Windows machines hit by the glitch after the company disclosed that 8.5 million devices were affected.
The tool is designed to aid in quickly recovering impacted machines via a bootable USB drive.
Passenger receives handwritten boarding pass during Microsoft outage
A flight passenger has shown off one effect of the current Microsoft computer outage.
On Friday, July 19, it was reported that cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike issued a faulty software update on Microsoft’s Windows operating system, crashing and infecting computers with the “blue screen of death” that left users unable to restart.
Because companies have computer systems run via Microsoft, this has resulted in flights being canceled, television stations being taken offline, and some banks being unable to make payments.
Brittany Miller reports:
Passenger receives handwritten boarding pass during Microsoft outage
‘Sometimes, the old-school way is still the best way when technology lets us down’
GPs will have backlog of patients to manage after ‘catastrophic’ IT outage
GPs will have to manage a considerable backlog of patients when their IT systems come back online, the British Medical Association has warned.
The BMA said on Sunday the NHS should be clear with patients that GP services will not be able to resume immediately even if their IT systems are back on by Monday.
Dr David Wrigley, deputy chair of the General Practice Committee England for the BMA, said: “Friday was one the toughest single days in recent times for GPs across England.
“GPs have been pulling out all the stops this weekend to deal with the effects of Friday’s catastrophic loss of service.
“The temporary loss of the patient record system has meant a considerable backlog. Even if we could guarantee it could be fully fixed on Monday GPs would still need time to catch up from lost work over the weekend, and NHSE should make clear to patients that normal service cannot be resumed immediately.”
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