Image source, Getty Images

Google says its services have mostly recovered after problems with its cloud platform struck several banks, businesses and even impacted the courts and NHS app.

Google said the incident was caused by a "power event" impacting London-based data centres. It was first indicated on its "europe-west2" region's service health dashboard around 07:00 BST.

Companies including Revolut, Halifax, Lloyds and DPD all reported problems earlier in the day.

In its latest update at 15:00 BST, Google said the issue had been "mitigated for most of the customers" affected, but that it was still affecting "a very small number of customers".

Our technology reporter writes that the disruption puts scrutiny on companies’ back-up arrangements, and whether they can keep operating when the infrastructure they depend on fails.

• We're ending our live coverage now - but you can read more in our news story here.

The website Downdetector - which collates reported issues with web services - earlier showed an uptick in reports of problems with a number of websites, including Cloudflare.

But the company - which is a large provider of internet security infrastructure - says today's Google Cloud outage has "not caused impact" to its services.

"I have a son with additional needs and I'm a single dad. Part of his daily routine is going to Sainsburys and I'm unable to do this as have no access to money," Jason tells us.

"This is about much more than an inconvenience. It’s important that the wider impact of this outage is highlighted, especially for vulnerable customers and families who depend on these services to manage their everyday lives."

Philippa Wain
Technology reporter

Image source, PA Media

Some patients were unable to use the NHS app to book appointments due to the Google outage.

The BBC understands that there was an issue with a third-party service which is integrated into the app by some healthcare providers to manage appointments, so some patients were unable to use the app for their appointments.

However, the issue was resolved at around midday so the app should be fully available to all users again.

James Kelly
Your Voice

Image source, Guy Baybutt

Guy Baybutt works for a family-run business, The Veg Box Company, which he says has been "severely affected" by the outage and suffered a "significant impact" on daily operations.

Guy, 45, from Preston, says the firm - which supplies fresh fruit, vegetables and other produce to customers across the UK - relies heavily on online systems to keep everything running smoothly.

He says they were unable download and process customer orders or book parcels with DPD for collection. "To make matters worse, customers were unable to access our website to place new orders, meaning we lost valuable sales during the outage."

He says for a small business like theirs "disruptions like this can have serious financial consequences".

"It was incredibly frustrating that a technical failure completely outside our control brought so much of our business to a standstill, affecting not just us but also the customers who rely on our deliveries," he says.

"The good news is our website is up and running again, and other systems like DPD are coming back online as well."

Shiona McCallum
Senior technology reporter

For people at home, it’s worth considering a backup way to pay.

Consumer group Which? suggests having a second account with a different bank, with some money already in it, and keeping some cash for emergencies. A small amount, if you can afford it, could help cover essentials when card payments aren’t working.

A second account isn’t a guarantee, because different banks can share the same cloud suppliers. But it can give you another option if your main bank has problems.

More broadly, experts say that as the majority of our services are now online, occasional disruptions are inevitable.

Most outages are resolved quickly, but they can have a ripple effect, particularly when payments, transport, communications and other everyday services are interconnected.

Having a backup option for the services you rely on most can help minimise disruption when technical problems occur.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says it is "aware of an incident affecting services provided by Google and are engaging with them and affected firms to understand the impact".

"People need to be able to access their money and make payments, so we expect firms to fix issues quickly, keep their customers informed, and ensure no one is left out of pocket," a spokesperson for the FCA says.

We're continuing to receive messages about how you've been affected by the outage.

Rebecca, in Edinburgh,says she is supposed to move house today, but the new mortgage is "stuck in the ether". She's sitting in the rain outside her lawyer's office waiting for the payment to come through so she can pick up the keys. "We’ve sold our flat and I am stuck in between ownership. ARGH!!"

Jamie, a freelancer from Preston, says he has been struggling to pay a supplier because his Revolut account has been down. "It’s so embarrassing, and to make it worse I've had to cancel two clients as I can’t pay venue fees, which means I’m now out of pocket," he adds.

Andrew, who is currently in Croatia,says his shopping was refused this morning when he tried to pay via Revolut. He says he is worried because "we are soon to leave Croatia and can’t access our money".

Tony has also been hit by the outage while on holiday.He tried to pay for his parking in the Lake District with no success, but fortunately he had just enough in coins. "Remains to be seen if I can pay for lunch with my card, or if we have to wash the dishes," he says.

Liv McMahon
Technology reporter

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

We heard earlier that Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland - all owned by the Lloyds Banking Group - were among some of the services people experienced technical issues with today.

A Lloyds spokesperson told us that while its apps and online logins were working normally, it was aware some users were "having issues with certain online services".

It did not comment on whether its issues were linked to the Google Cloud outage, which Google has since said is beginning to see some recovery.

But a Lloyds spokesperson has told the BBC: "We understand the root issues have been resolved, so we expect all our services to be back to normal soon."

In a fresh update, Google says the issue has been "mitigated for most of the customers" affected.

But the issue is currently still affecting "a very small number of customers", it says.

The company adds that its engineering team is working to resolve the issue, and it will publish an analysis of the incident once it has completed an internal investigation.

What we know:

• Google says it is seeing the "recovery of services for most workloads in europe-west2", the area affected by the outage, the infrastructure for which is based in London
• But the company adds that users may "experience elevated errors and intermittent network issues"
• Services like the Forest e-bike hire company and Emma, the UK-based budgeting app, say they are now back up and running as normal
• Other services, including banks like HSBC, Lloyds and online bank Revolut, and the court service video platform CVP, reported disruption earlier
• We're expecting another Google update momentarily

What we still don't know:

• The full extent of the impact - the website Downdetector, which collates reported issues with web programmes, showed an uptick in issues on Tuesday morning. Google said earlier there were "multiple services" affected

• How long it will take individual businesses to be fully up and running again as normal. As we say above, Google says it is seeing "recovery of services for most workloads" but there may be "intermittent network issues"
• Google says it was caused by a "power event", but we don't have more details on what was behind the outage

We've received lots of messages from many of you affected by the outage. Here's a flavour of what you've been telling us.

Banks:

"I sent some money to my Revolut in order to make an online payment," James says. "I'm still waiting. It's very stressful. I cannot do any food shopping until this fiasco is sorted out." He says his money "should always be accessible regardless of these outages" and that he is "starting to lose trust".

Online bank Revolut earlier reported "service disruption", but said customers' "money and data are safe". We've also had reports of other banks being affected.

Education:

Jay says UK-based online platform Atom Learning, which offers services to help children prepare for exams, has been down today. Many schools are on half-term this week, which Jay says is a "key time for the current Year 6 kids studying for their 11+ exams to use the platform".

Hospitality:

In south Oxfordshire, Robert says the till system and printers at the pub he runs have all been down, as well as his banking app. "Feels a bit like the millennium bug has finally struck - pen and paper it is then."

Meanwhile, Lee, who works for a hospital charity, says all four of the cafe's tills "went down" just before lunchtime, meaning they had to close and they were left with stock they couldn't sell.

Google has released another update to say it is seeing the "recovery of services for most workloads in europe-west2", which is the area affected by the outage.

But it says users in this region may "experience elevated errors and intermittent network issues".

More details will be provided in another update at 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT), Google says.

Image source, Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Forest, an electric bike hire company, is now up and running as normal, after some users reported problems this morning.

A portion of its service was impacted by the Google Cloud outage.

Emma, a UK-based budgeting app, says it's "up and running again" after it was hit by this morning's Google Cloud outage.

A statement on X says customers' data and money have been "safe throughout".

Some balances may take a little while to refresh, it says, while thanking users for their patience.

You've been sending us your experiences of disruption as a result of the Google Cloud outage, which has caused issues for courts, banks and other businesses online.

Chris cannot access his credit card from Lloyds - the bank earlier told the BBC its app was functioning normally but some people were having issues "with certain online services" this morning.

Meanwhile Wyn - who did not give the name of their bank - said it was "embarrassing" having their card refused at the supermarket.

Online bank Revolut earlier reported "service disruption" and Halifax bank also said some customers were having issues with its app and website - more here.

Lisle is "stuck" in Sri Lanka, with "no access" to their money: "Not ideal as I need to pay a large hotel bill," they add.

Image source, Getty Images

As we've been reporting, banks are among the services that have been disrupted by the Google Cloud outage.

We've just received a statement from HSBC, saying: "We are aware that some customers are experiencing difficulties accessing our services.

"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience and continue to monitor the situation, which is also affecting other organisations."

Services that look separate actually rely on the same underlying supplierspublished at 13:27 BST

13:27 BST

Shiona McCallum
Senior technology reporter

This is not the first time we’ve seen a cloud outage cause a ripple effect across online services.

A year ago, a failure in Amazon Web Services’ US infrastructure disrupted apps including Snapchat, Roblox and Duolingo, with consequences around the world.

AWS, Microsoft’s Azure and Google Cloud dominate this market - accounting for almost two-thirds of global spending on cloud infrastructure, according to Synergy Research Group.

So many services that look entirely separate to us actually depend on the same underlying suppliers. A technical problem in one location can reach far beyond it, disrupting businesses and their customers.

It also puts scrutiny on companies’ back-up arrangements whether they can keep operating when the infrastructure they depend on fails, and how quickly they can switch to working systems elsewhere.

Delivery firm DPD says connection issues affecting its website have now been resolved.

In a statement posted on its Irish X account in the last few minutes, the firm has thanked customers for their patience.

As a reminder, Google said earlier it is "seeing the recovery" of its cloud services.

The latest update from Google says that "we are seeing the recovery of services and are prioritising the recovery of existing workloads".

It also says "tentatively" that the "full recovery of existing workloads should be completed" shortly.