Google cloud outage in London knocks out UK banks and courts

A power fault at one of Google's data centers in London knocked out banking apps and court video links across the UK on Tuesday. Customers of Lloyds, HSBC and Revolut struggled to pay, withdraw cash or move money. Most services were back by 3pm London time, but not all.

What happened

Google blamed a "power event" in its "europe-west2-b zone", part of its London cloud computing operations. Cloud computing means companies rent computer power from a big provider instead of running their own machines. Google said services began returning at 1pm and were back for most customers by 3pm.

Who was hit

• Courts in England and Wales lost the video system used to join hearings remotely, and several hearings were believed to be delayed.
• Halifax, owned by Lloyds, said some customers could not log in to the app or online.
• HSBC customers complained online about getting into their accounts.
• Rightmove was reportedly affected, and reports suggested Royal Mail and DPD had disruption.

Revolut was hit hardest. Sign-up, sign-in, card payments, transfers, ATM withdrawals and crypto services were all affected. By 5pm its website still showed problems, with only six of 27 services working. Revolut said customers' money and data were safe.

What banks and regulators said

Lloyds said it understood the root issues had been resolved and expected services to return to normal soon. HSBC said its services had returned to normal. The Financial Conduct Authority said it expects firms to fix problems quickly, keep customers informed and make sure no one is left out of pocket.

What happens next

This is the first major test for the FCA and the Bank of England since they were given powers this summer to oversee cloud providers that serve UK financial firms. Meg Hillier, who chairs the Treasury committee of MPs, has asked the regulators how they responded and how widely the system was hit. She wants an initial reply by 4 November. Google says it will publish an analysis once its internal investigation is finished.

Why it matters for business

Many companies depend on a single cloud provider without knowing it. If a firm's systems sit in one cloud location, one fault can stop payments and customer access. It is fair to ask your software vendors how they stay online if one site fails.