Google Cloud outage: Why it is down, what's affected, when it'll be back?

A major Google Cloud outage hit the UK on Tuesday, October 20, after a “power event” at the company’s London data center region.

The disruption started around 07:00 BST at Google’s Europe-west2 facility, its only UK cloud region. In an update, Google confirmed “an issue with multiple services,” adding “due to a power event we had suffered an outage within Europe-west2 zone. The power event is mitigated.”

The company said partial mitigation would follow within 30 minutes, though the underlying cause remains unconfirmed.

Among the worst affected was digital bank Revolut, which has more than 80 million customers globally. Thousands reported being unable to make payments, access funds, or reach customer support.

Revolut said all customers’ “money and data are safe” and that it had been working to fix the issue since it was identified. Halifax and Lloyds also reported problems with certain online services.

The outage spread beyond finance. HM Courts and Tribunals Service said its Cloud Video Platform, used for remote hearings, was affected, with the Criminal Bar Association warning that barristers in England and Wales “cannot proceed with trials and other hearings.”

Royal Mail and Hitchin Town Football Club’s ticketing system were also reportedly hit.

In its latest update, Google said the “power event” that caused the outage has been mitigated, adding “partial mitigation to infrastructure services will be observed within the next 30 minutes, and the remaining services will be mitigated thereafter.”