Key facts
- Microsoft executive vice-president Charles Lamanna said the outages did not appear to be caused by a cyber-attack.
- The National Pharmacy Association said waits could be longer than normal and some prescriptions could be delayed.
- Pharmacy sources said they could not access email or communicate with some GP surgeries about prescriptions.
- Microsoft said on Friday morning it was seeing early signs of stabilization.
- Access to Microsoft products used by MPs was down, a parliamentary spokesperson said.
- The Welsh government said it was putting contingency plans in place.
Hospitals, GP surgeries, police forces, schools and universities across the UK lost access to Microsoft services including Outlook email, with problems beginning late on Thursday afternoon, November 12, 2026, the Guardian reported.
NHS sources described what they called widespread and serious disruption to the health service, with staff saying they could not access the email and IT systems used to deliver healthcare. Staff arriving at work on Friday morning reported the same problem, and some meetings were canceled. Pharmacy sources told the Guardian they could not access email and were unable to communicate with some GP surgeries about prescriptions, which they said had a significant impact on patient waiting times for medicines. The National Pharmacy Association said waits at pharmacies could be longer than normal and some prescriptions could be delayed.
The Metropolitan, Northampton, Hertfordshire, South Wales, Dyfed-Powys and Dorset police forces all reported that their systems had been affected. Access to Microsoft products used by MPs was also down, and a parliamentary spokesperson said the parliamentary network was affected and that work was under way with Microsoft to resolve the matter.
Microsoft executive vice-president Charles Lamanna said the outages did not appear to be the result of a cyber-attack. On Friday morning the company said it was seeing early signs of stabilization.
Luke Pollard, the minister for defence readiness and industry, told Times Radio that government engineers and systems were working with Microsoft, and told BBC Radio 4 that the incident showed the need for greater resilience against technology failures. The Welsh government said it was putting contingency plans in place.