PARIS — A global outage in Microsoft’s systems left public bodies in France without access to e-mail, hindered service in British hospitals, prevented UK police forces from receiving online reports, and affected the operation of courts and schools in several European countries.
In addition to affecting companies and banks around the world, the outage of services such as Outlook and Teams exposed how dependent governments and public institutions are on the digital tools of the American giant.
In Europe, the effects were most widespread in the United Kingdom. Hospitals, medical clinics, pharmacies, police forces, courts and educational institutions reported difficulties related to the disruption of the company’s services.
In the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), facilities faced issues accessing e-mails and tools used for communication between professionals and patients. Some teams had to resort to paper records and alternative systems, while operational difficulties threatened delays in issuing medical prescriptions, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
NHS Grampian, the health authority responsible for a region of Scotland, said the Outlook outage also affected some medical clinics’ access to systems used by family doctors. Telephone lines and other systems, however, continued to operate.
In London, the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, responsible for mental health services and community care, advised patients to contact by phone rather than e-mail, given the risk that messages might not be received.
Health institutions stressed that emergency services and essential procedures continued to function. Isle of Wight NHS Trust, for example, said its ambulances continued to respond normally to emergency calls and that hospitals remained open to patients.
Police, Courts, and Municipalities Affected
The outage also affected the digital channels used by the public to file police reports. Law enforcement across different regions of the United Kingdom warned that they could not receive certain forms sent via their websites.
Hertfordshire Police and Dorset Police advised citizens to use the telephone to file reports that required urgent attention.
The outage also impacted the operation of the British judiciary. According to the Associated Press (AP), a trial in Manchester had to be halted due to the problems caused by the outage.
In the Netherlands, the Magistrates’ Council confirmed that the judicial system was also affected. In a statement released on Friday, the institution said that courts faced difficulties receiving and sending e-mails. Telephone service, however, remained available.
British schools and universities also faced communication problems. Institutions advised parents and guardians to use the telephone to report student absences and to handle matters that would normally be resolved by e-mail.
In France, the body responsible for supporting municipal administrations said on Friday (the 13th) that its e-mail communication systems were unavailable. According to the statement, it was not possible to send or receive messages. The agency said it was awaiting Microsoft to restore services.
The outage began on Thursday (the 12th), shortly before 7 p.m., Paris time, and initially affected corporate e-mail services. The disruption spread to other Microsoft 365 tools, including Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and Copilot.
