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LIVE updates as Microsoft outage has major impact on councils, police and Subway
Microsoft said it is seeing early signs of stabilisation after the outage disrupted email, Teams and other services for millions of users worldwide.
- On Thursday, November 12, 2026, a major global Microsoft outage disrupted public services across Scotland, affecting councils, schools, and health boards. Problems began around 6:00 p.m., impacting millions of users in more than 70 countries.
- Microsoft 365 products—including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot—experienced widespread connectivity failures. Downdetector recorded issues in 74 countries within an hour, as organisations struggled with email and online form access.
- Public bodies across Scotland, including Police Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council, advised residents to use telephone lines for urgent matters. Schools and health boards also urged parents and carers to call directly.
- Early signs of stabilisation were reported by Microsoft on Friday, though service capacity remained variable as traffic was reintroduced. Executive vice-president Charles Lamanna confirmed the outages did not appear to be a cyber attack.
- The UK Government stated it had "robust contingency plans" in place to minimise service disruption. Microsoft added it would "continue to treat this with urgency until full mitigation" and release a post-incident report on root cause after recovery.
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12 Articles
12 Articles
The IndependentReposted by 
The Independent (US)
The Independent (US)Councils and public services hit by global Microsoft outage
The tech company says it is working to resolve the problem.
·London, United Kingdom
Read Full ArticleCoverage Details
Total News Sources12
Leaning Left6Leaning Right1Center3Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Left
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources lean Left
60% Left
L 60%
C 30%
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