Google Cloud outage disrupts UK courts and major banks
A power event at Google’s London data center caused a significant outage affecting its europe-west2-b zone on Tuesday. The disruption knocked offline critical services for UK courts and major banks, including Lloyds, HSBC, and Revolut. While most services recovered by 3pm, the incident delayed legal proceedings and hindered financial transactions, prompting inquiries from UK financial regulators.
Key points
- Google attributed a widespread cloud service outage in the UK to a power event at its London-based operations, specifically impacting the europe-west2-b zone.
- The failure disrupted remote video hearings across England and Wales, delaying proceedings for defendants, lawyers, and other parties relying on the digital system.
- Major UK financial institutions, including Lloyds, HSBC, and digital bank Revolut, experienced disruptions to card payments, cash withdrawals, and transfers, leaving millions of customers affected.
- Google reported services began recovering at 1pm London time, with most customers back online by 3pm, though Revolut still listed issues with 21 of its 27 services by 5pm.
- The Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority confirmed they are engaging with Google to assess the impact on the financial sector.
A significant outage at Google’s cloud infrastructure in the United Kingdom has caused widespread disruption to critical public and financial services. The US technology company identified a “power event” at its London-based Cloud computing operations as the root cause, specifically affecting its europe-west2-b zone on Tuesday. The incident resulted in the temporary offline status of services relied upon by millions of users, impacting both the legal system and the banking sector.
The disruption notably affected the judiciary, where the video conferencing system used for remote hearings across England and Wales failed throughout the morning. This delay impacted proceedings involving defendants in custody, lawyers, and other legal parties. Simultaneously, major financial institutions, including Lloyds, HSBC, and the digital bank Revolut, faced interruptions to core services such as card payments, cash withdrawals, and fund transfers.
Google stated that services began recovering at 1pm London time, with the majority of customers back online by 3pm. However, recovery was not uniform; by 5pm, Revolut’s status page indicated that only six of its 27 services were fully operational. In response to the scale of the disruption, the Financial Conduct Authority confirmed it was in contact with Google, while the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority is also reportedly seeking further details to evaluate the incident's impact on financial stability.
Sources
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