The global issues have affected airports, trains, and businesses in various sectors, causing chaos.
On Friday morning, Gatwick airport – the second busiest airport in the UK – said it had been affected by the outage, believed to be linked to a Microsoft Windows security update.
In the UK, there has been disruption to services as the computer error caused departure screens to malfunction.
Departure boards in the main terminal froze and showed out-of-date information about gate numbers and departure times, resulting in some passengers missing their flights.
A fire alarm was also sounded over at Edinburgh airport, which was believed to have been triggered by the same computer error. The airport said it was working to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Ryanair says there are “potential disruptions across the network” and advises anyone travelling today to check the Ryanair app for updates on their flight.
US-based airlines United, Delta and American Airlines have also experienced disruption, issuing a “global ground stop” on all their flights.
Sky News was also hit, going off air on Friday morning, while Britain’s biggest train company warned passengers to expect disruption because of “widespread IT issues”.
Around the world banks, supermarkets and other major institutions reported computer issues disrupting services.
Microsoft also said it was “investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services”, and that it was taking “mitigation actions”.
The issue is thought to be connected to an update from the US cyber security company CrowdStrike, which is causing issues on companies across different industries.
If you’re set to travel today, here are the latest delays and cancellations from Gatwick.
London Cancelled flights list Friday 19th July
11.20am – easyjet EZY8630 from Berlin
7.40am – Tui TOM4532 to Ibiza delayed to 11.15am
8.50am – Wizz Air W46302 to Milan delayed to 9.35am
10.20am – Tui TOM052 to Montego Bay delayed to 12.20pm
10.40am – American Airline AA6206/British Airways BA2037/Iberia IB4679 to Orlando delayed until 11.18am
10.45am – Norse Z0711 to Los Angeles delayed to 11.15am
2.45pm – British Airways BA2752 to Heraklion delayed to 3.16pm
3.25pm – Tui TOM4534 to Tenerife South delayed to 6.45pm