Revolut down latest: Huge internet outage hits several companies after Google Cloud issues

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A major internet outage has taken down Revolut , the online banking app, and many of the UK’s biggest websites.

The problems appeared to be at least partly linked to technical issues at Google Cloud, the giant’s web services division. That provides internet infrastructure to a wide array of websites – meaning that any issue at the company can become clear across the web.

The problems at Revolut were particularly troublesome, leaving customers not only unable to open the app but also meaning that they were unable to pay in stores using their cards.

But the problem hit online services from Rightmove to UK courts, where an outage in the video system used for trials forced hearings to be delayed.

Google also said that it was aware of the issues and that it’s engineers were working on fixing them. But it did not give any indication of when it might be fixed.

Most services seem to have recovered

Almost all of the websites, platforms and companies that were affected by the outage earlier seem to have recovered, according to tracking website Down Detector.

Users of Revolut, however, are still reporting problems. (See below.)

Revolut customers respond with outrage to outage

Revolut has not posted on its official X account since just before 9am this morning, an hour after the outage started.

In the absence of any updates, the replies to that post have been filled with apparent customers complaining the outage.

“Money and data are safe,” one writes. “Safest my money has ever been: not even I can spend it.”

That is the central frustration among many users, who say they have been left embarrassed or stuck because they have been unable to pay for things in shops, or for transport.

Others complain that they have not received enough updates from the company, arguing that it should have sent a notification or email to make clear.

Revolut still not working, despite Google update

Revolut’s status page still shows that it is “partially unavailable”, and that there are problems with every part of its service, including ATM withdrawals and card payments. That’s despite Google saying the issue is almost entirely fixed (see below).

Some customers however are reporting that they are able to do at least some things, such as opening the app.

Google says it has fixed the problem

The outage has now been fixed, Google has said.

An update to its status page indicates that it now considers the issues over.

Google does say that there are problems still affecting “currently a very small number of customers”, so some problems may still persist.

“We will publish an analysis of this incident once we have completed our internal investigation,” Google said. “We thank you for your patience while we're working on resolving the issue.”

Emma budgeting app says it is back online

The latest app to recover from the outage, budgeting app Emma says that it is back online.

“We're back,” it wrote. “Emma is up and running again after this morning's Google Cloud power outage in London.

“Your data and money were safe throughout. Some balances may take a little while to refresh. Thanks for your patience.”

Revolut and others still indicate systems are down

Revolut’s status page still shows that all of its services – including paying with cards and taking money out at ATMs – are still not working. While others including DPD have indicated that they have recovered, there are still ongoing problems.

Reports on Down Detector appear to be falling. But that tends to be the way, because it relies on user reports and they are often clustered at the beginning of an outage.

Google does say that things should be coming back online, however. (See below.)

Google says 'most services' are recovering

Google is “seeing the recovery of services for most workloads” on the affected systems, it said in a new update to its status page. It says it will provide another update by 7am local pacific time, or 3pm UK time.

It once again apologised to “all who are affected by the disruption”.

DPD says services are coming back online

Delivery company DPD says that its problems are fixed. (It announced it on its Irish X account – which it also used to post them earlier – and has not addressed it on the UK one.)

“The connection issues affecting our website have now been resolved,” it wrote. “Thank you for your patience.”

Google said earlier that it had fixed the problem, but that getting through all of the work required to get back up to speed might take a while. You can see the latest update on that below, and it has promised another one within the 20 minutes.

Keep evidence of what happened to you, Which? advises

Anyone affected by the outage should keep evidence of what has happened in case they need to make a claim in the future, says Sam Richardson, Editor of Which? Money.

"Consumers will be rightly concerned by reports of widespread Google Cloud outages, which are impacting a range of third-party businesses including banks and payment platforms. In the worst-case scenarios, these outages could prevent people making essential purchases or even paying their bills.

"Customers should keep evidence of impacted payments in case they need to make a claim against their bank, and in the meantime anyone likely to miss important bill payments should the company involved to ensure they waive any late fees.

"Tech and banking outages have become increasingly frequent in recent years, and the impact can be widespread when they happen. It's worth considering having back-ups in place in the event your main provider goes down - for example a card with a different bank, and a small amount of emergency cash to tide you over should you be unable to make card payments. "

Problems may last long after outage is fixed, financial expert warns

The outage may soon be fixed (and – see below – Google has suggested that it will be). But the problems could last long after that, one financial services expert has warned, because customers and banks might have to sort out the consequences for their accounts.

“The outage may be temporary, but the chargeback fallout does not have to be. That’s because when a payment appears to fail, customers do exactly what you would expect them to do: they try again. They retry the same card, switch payment methods or make the purchase later, often without knowing whether the first transaction actually went through,” said Monica Eaton, founder and chief executive of financial services firm Chargebacks911.

“That is exactly where the danger starts. A transaction can settle after the customer believed it had failed, two payments can appear for what they see as one purchase, or a charge can show up days later with no obvious explanation. From the customer’s point of view, that can look like an error or even fraud and from the merchant’s point of view, it can become a chargeback.”

“Merchants cannot treat service restoration as the end of the incident. They need to identify interrupted and repeated transactions, reconcile them quickly and communicate with customers before uncertainty turns into disputes. That’s because while the technical outage might last hours, the financial consequences can sit in the chargeback queue for weeks.”

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