Moreover, DNS issues cripple Azure cloud services impacting thousands of websites worldwide as Microsoft reroutes traffic to restore connectivity.
Currently, a major Microsoft outage is disrupting services globally, affecting prominent sites including Heathrow Airport, NatWest Bank, and Minecraft. Specifically, Microsoft Azure’s cloud computing platform—which underpins approximately 20% of the global internet—reported “degradation of some services” beginning at 1600 GMT Wednesday.
According to Microsoft, the outage stems from DNS issues, the same root cause behind last week’s massive Amazon Web Services disruption. Furthermore, the company stated it experienced problems due to “an inadvertent configuration change” that caused unintended consequences across its infrastructure.
Widespread Service Disruptions
Notably, thousands of users reported issues on Downdetector as the outage spread across continents. In the UK, affected services include supermarket Asda and mobile operator O2. Meanwhile, US users reported problems accessing Starbucks and retailer Kroger websites.
Microsoft confirmed that business Microsoft 365 customers might experience delays with Outlook and other services. Additionally, some Microsoft web pages displayed error notifications reading “Uh oh! Something went wrong with the previous request.”
The company’s Azure status page showed network infrastructure as “critical” in every global region. This unprecedented scope demonstrates the extensive reach of Microsoft’s cloud services and the cascading impact when they fail.
Critical Infrastructure Affected
Significantly, business operations beyond consumer websites faced disruption. The Scottish Parliament suspended proceedings because technical issues prevented its online voting system from functioning. Parliamentary sources confirmed they believe the problems relate directly to the Microsoft outage.
At Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports, systems relying on Azure infrastructure experienced problems. However, the full extent of airport operations impact remains unclear as the situation continues developing.
NatWest Bank saw its main website affected, though the institution confirmed mobile banking, web chat, and telephone customer services remained available. Additionally, customers with online banking bookmarked could still access that service directly.
Microsoft’s Response and Recovery Efforts
A Microsoft spokesperson stated the company is working to “address an issue affecting Azure Front Door that is impacting the availability of some services.” The firm identified parts of its infrastructure experiencing connectivity issues and began rerouting affected traffic to restore service health.
Furthermore, Microsoft plans fixing the problem by essentially replacing its service with a recent backup known to function properly. However, the company couldn’t provide estimates for restoration timelines.
On X, Microsoft initiated a status update thread after users reported inability to access the official service status page—an ironic complication that forced the company to communicate through social media instead.
Root Cause: Configuration Error
Specifically, Microsoft attributed the outage to “an inadvertent configuration change”—meaning behind-the-scenes system modifications triggered unexpected failures cascading across Azure infrastructure.
DNS issues, which translate human-readable website addresses into computer-readable IP addresses, represent fundamental internet functionality. When DNS systems fail, websites become effectively unreachable even if underlying servers function normally.
This problem mirrors last week’s Amazon Web Services outage that similarly stemmed from DNS failures. Amazon confirmed its AWS services currently operate normally, ruling out any connection between the incidents beyond similar technical causes.
Cloud Concentration Risks
Dr. Saqib Kakvi from Royal Holloway University highlighted systemic vulnerabilities created by cloud service concentration. An outage of this magnitude “can cripple hundreds, if not thousands of applications and systems,” he noted.
“Due to cost of hosting web content, economic forces lead to consolidation of resources into a few very large players, but it is effectively putting all our eggs in one of three baskets,” Kakvi explained.
Indeed, estimates typically place Microsoft Azure at approximately 20% of the global cloud market, with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud controlling most of the remainder. This consolidation means major provider outages inevitably create widespread disruption.
Ongoing Situation
As of publication, Microsoft continues working to restore full service functionality. The company shares updates through its X account and Azure status pages when accessible.
Users experiencing issues should monitor official Microsoft communication channels for restoration updates. Additionally, affected businesses may need contingency plans for extended disruptions if restoration proves complex.
The incident underscores cloud infrastructure’s critical role in modern internet operations and the systemic risks created when essential services concentrate among few providers. As businesses increasingly migrate operations to cloud platforms, outage frequency and impact will likely remain recurring concerns requiring robust redundancy planning.