A power-related outage affecting Google Cloud services in London has disrupted banking services and several major online platforms across the United Kingdom, leaving customers unable to access some financial services.
The disruption occurred on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, after Google reported technical problems in its europe-west2 cloud region, which serves its London operations. The company attributed the incident to a power-related event that caused network failures and errors across multiple services.
Among the financial institutions affected were Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Halifax and digital banking platform Revolut.
Customers reported difficulties accessing banking applications, making transfers and completing card payments. Some Revolut users also experienced problems with cash withdrawals, account access and card top-ups.
Revolut acknowledged the disruption and apologized to affected customers, assuring them that their money and personal data remained safe.
Lloyds and HSBC also confirmed that some customers were experiencing difficulties with their online services and said they were monitoring the situation.
The impact extended beyond the banking sector. Reports of service disruptions also affected property website Rightmove, postal and delivery services Royal Mail and DPD, and other online platforms.
The outage also affected the cloud-based video system used for remote court hearings in England and Wales, raising concerns about the disruption of essential public services.
Google said the power issue had been mitigated and that services were gradually recovering by Tuesday afternoon. However, the company indicated that some workloads could take additional time to return to normal. A fuller incident report was expected in the coming days. <Cite refs={[“turn102953search0″,”turn102953search2″,”turn102953search3”]}/>
The incident has renewed concerns about the growing dependence of banks, businesses and public institutions on a small number of major cloud computing providers. While cloud technology allows organizations to operate digital services without maintaining all their own infrastructure, failures at a central provider can have widespread consequences for customers and essential services.
The disruption also highlights the importance of contingency plans, backup systems and alternative infrastructure to help organizations maintain operations when a critical technology provider experiences an outage.
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