Major global tech meltdown hits banks, airlines

Numerous banks, airlines and even the London Stock Exchange are reporting technical glitches after a major outage at Microsoft

The outage, which began at around 07:00 BST, has affected users in Europe, the US and Asia

In a statement, Microsoft said it was "aware of an issue that is affecting multiple Microsoft 365 services".

The company said it was "working to restore service as quickly as possible" and apologised for any inconvenience caused.

The outage has caused widespread disruption, with many businesses and individuals unable to access email, cloud storage and other essential services.

Some banks have reported that they are unable to process transactions, while airlines have been forced to cancel flights.

The London Stock Exchange has also been affected by the outage, with trading suspended for several hours.

The outage is the latest in a series of major tech disruptions in recent years. In 2021, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp were all hit by a global outage that lasted for several hours.

The increasing reliance on technology has made businesses and individuals more vulnerable to such outages.

It is not yet clear what caused the Microsoft outage, but the company is investigating the issue.