Councils and public services hit by global Microsoft outage
The tech company says it is working to resolve the problem.
Councils and public services in Scotland are among those affected as a result of the ongoing global Microsoft outage.
Organisations across the world have been left without access to emails, Teams, AI assistant Copilot, and the tech giant said it was working with “urgency” to resolve the problem.
The problem developed on Thursday evening and showed no signs of letting up by Friday.
On its Microsoft 365 status page, the firm said: “We are seeing early signs of stabilisation, but service capacity has not yet returned to normal levels and health remains variable as traffic is carefully reintroduced.”
Police Scotland reported problems with its emails and online forms.
On X, the force said: “Due to the global Microsoft outage, our online forms are affected, including ContactUs.
“We are unable to receive any emails, and there may be a delay in responding to any forms sent to us in the last 24 hours as this outage continues.”
An NHS Grampian spokesperson said: “NHS Grampian is affected by the Outlook outage this morning which means that staff and services are currently unable to access e-mails.
“Telephone lines and all other systems are working as normal.”
Many of Scotland’s local authorities are experiencing the same problems, and a spokesperson for the City of Edinburgh Council wrote: “Due to a worldwide Microsoft outage, we are unable to send or receive emails at this time, and some of our online forms are not available.
“If you need to get in touch with us, please contact us by telephone.”
East Lothian Council added: “Due to a worldwide Microsoft outage, we are not able to send and receive emails at present.
“If you need to contact the council, please contact us by telephone. Our main number is 01620 827827.
“Any parents/carers should telephone their child’s school if needing to get in touch.”
The Scottish Borders Council said: “Due to a global issue affecting Microsoft we are experiencing issues with various systems, including our emails and some contact forms.
“If you need to reach us urgently please call 0300 100 1800.
“If you need to contact a school urgently, please call rather than email.”
The Scottish Government was approached for comment.