LONDON — A “power event” at Google’s London-based cloud computing operations disrupted services across Britain and parts of Europe on Tuesday, leaving customers of banks including Lloyds, HSBC and Revolut unable to make card payments, withdraw cash or move money, and knocking out the video system used for remote court hearings, The Guardian and ABC News reported.
“Due to a power event we had suffered an outage within europe-west2-b zone,” Google said on its Cloud website, warning that services in parts of Europe could see “elevated errors and intermittent network issues.” Google said the incident began shortly after 6 a.m. U.K. time (10 p.m. Monday Pacific). Services were starting to come back online as of 1 p.m. London time, The Guardian reported.
Revolut’s outage hit sign-up, sign-in, card payments, transfers, ATM withdrawals and cryptocurrency services. “We are currently experiencing a service disruption affecting multiple services. We can confirm that all our customers’ money and data are safe,” the bank said. Halifax, owned by Lloyds, said some customers were unable to log in through its app and online, and HSBC apologised to customers who were having difficulty accessing its services.
The U.K.’s Courts and Tribunals Service said on X it was “aware of an issue affecting Cloud Video Platform (CVP), used for some remote hearings.” The system, often used by defendants in custody, failed throughout the morning and was believed to have delayed several hearings, The Guardian reported. Court live streams, including the trial of comedian Russell Brand, were also reportedly affected, according to ABC News.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it was in touch with Google and seeking more information. The Guardian said the outage was the first major test for the FCA and the Bank of England since the regulators were given powers this summer to oversee Google and other providers of “critical” cloud services to U.K. financial firms.
The property portal Rightmove was also reportedly affected, and reports said Royal Mail and the delivery company DPD had suffered disruption.
Sources: The Guardian, ABC News
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