Signing you in

Listen 00:00 0.5x 0.75x 1x 1.25x 1.5x 2x AI Narration This audio is AI generated.

Google, on Tuesday, October 20, said that its multiple cloud services have been hit by network failures. The disruption came to light after numerous users of UK-based bank Revolut reported outages. The search giant, in a message on its Cloud Status page, said, “We are experiencing an issue with multiple services in europe-west2.” The issues began around 07:00 BST (23:08 PDT), which is around 11:38 AM IST.

According to Downdetector, which tracks real-time user reports of service disruptions, reports of problems have increased across several websites and applications amid the Google Cloud outage. Besides Revolut, users have reported issues with Lloyds Bank, Rightmove, HSBC, Royal Mail, Bank of Scotland, Sky, SiteGround, DPD, Google Cloud and Cloudflare. However, it has not been confirmed whether all these disruptions are linked to the Google Cloud outage or whether the companies use its services.

Meanwhile, Revolut acknowledged the service disruption but maintained that the money and data are safe. The company said, “We can confirm that all our customers’ money and data are safe.” It added that it had been working to resolve the issue since it was identified and apologised to affected customers “for any inconvenience caused”.

We are currently experiencing a service disruption affecting multiple services. We can confirm that all our customers’ money and data are safe. We’ve been working to fix the issue since it was identified this morning and apologise to anyone affected and for any inconvenience caused.

British bank Lloyds told the BBC that its app was functioning normally but acknowledged that “we understand some are having issues with certain online services”. The bank added, “We are aware of similar issues affecting other organisations and are monitoring the situation closely.”

Meanwhile, delivery firm DPD also reported connectivity problems. According to its Irish X account, the company said, “We are aware of current connection issues affecting our website.” It added that its team was working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible and apologised for any inconvenience caused.

According to the BBC, UK-based budgeting app Emma’s services were down due to a Google Cloud outage affecting services in London since 7 am. In a statement, the company said, “This is a technical outage, not a security issue.” Emma added that it was monitoring the situation and would provide an update once the app was back online, while apologising for the disruption.

Following the disruptions, hundreds of users tagged banks on social media, sharing screenshots of error messages and asking about the outages. Banks including Revolut, Halifax and Lloyds responded by acknowledging issues with their services, apologising for the inconvenience and assuring users that their respective teams were working to resolve the issues at the earliest.

Google Cloud has acknowledged the disruption affecting multiple services in its London region, adding that its engineering team is investigating the issue. However, the company has not yet disclosed the root cause of the outage.