Google Cloud has reported network failures affecting multiple services in Europe, disrupting banking applications, websites and other digital services that millions of people rely on daily.
The outage, reported on October 20, 2026, centred on Google’s London-based cloud region. Several businesses experienced service interruptions as Google’s engineering team worked to investigate and resolve the problem.
Multiple Banks Report Service Disruptions
Several financial institutions experienced problems during the outage, including Revolut, Lloyds Bank, Halifax, HSBC and Bank of Scotland.
Customers reported difficulties accessing banking applications and completing certain transactions. Revolut reported disruptions affecting card payments, money transfers, ATM withdrawals and access to its application.
The digital bank said its customers’ money and data remained safe while apologising for the inconvenience.
ING Germany also reported problems with its online banking and mobile application. Although several institutions experienced issues around the same time, the precise connection between every bank’s disruption and Google’s network failures was not immediately established.
Websites and Essential Services Also Affected
The impact extended beyond banking.Royal Mail, DPD and property website Rightmove were among the services reporting problems. NHS England and government-related services also appeared on outage reports, while other online platforms experienced disruptions.
The incident demonstrates how a technical problem at a major cloud provider can affect organisations across different industries. Businesses may operate independently but still depend on the same underlying infrastructure to keep their websites, applications and digital services available.
For affected companies, interruptions can mean lost transactions, delayed operations, frustrated customers and potential revenue losses.
What Is Behind the Outage?
Google Cloud reported elevated errors and intermittent network failures affecting multiple services in its London-based region.
The company’s engineering team said it was investigating the incident. Subsequent reporting indicated that Google attributed the disruption to a power event affecting part of its London infrastructure.
Cloud infrastructure allows businesses to run applications, store data and deliver services without managing every component of their own computing systems. However, when a critical cloud region experiences problems, applications that depend on it can become unavailable.
Google advised affected customers to consider moving impacted workloads to another available zone or region where feasible.
A Technical Failure, Not Necessarily a Cyberattack
The outage has also highlighted the importance of distinguishing infrastructure failures from cybersecurity incidents.
A website going offline does not automatically mean it has been hacked. Network failures, power problems, software errors and cyberattacks can all disrupt online services, but they have different causes.
The available reports attributed this incident to Google Cloud service and network failures, with subsequent reporting identifying a power-related problem. There was no established evidence in those reports that a cyberattack caused the outage.
Businesses affected by the incident will need to assess their own systems and dependencies to determine the specific impact on their operations.
The Risks of Depending on Centralised Cloud Infrastructure
The Google Cloud outage highlights a growing challenge for digital businesses: dependence on a relatively small number of providers that support large parts of the internet.
Cloud computing offers flexibility and scalability, but businesses can become vulnerable when critical services depend on a single region or infrastructure provider.
For banks and payment platforms, even a short interruption can prevent customers from accessing services or completing transactions. For online retailers and other businesses, downtime can interrupt sales and damage customer confidence.
Building resilience requires more than simply hosting services in the cloud. Businesses must also prepare for infrastructure failures through backup systems, geographically distributed deployments and tested disaster recovery plans.
The Google Cloud outage is a reminder that the internet depends on physical infrastructure, including data centres, power systems, networks and software services that must work together.
When one critical component fails, the consequences can reach far beyond the company responsible for operating it.
For businesses, the lesson is not to abandon cloud computing. It is to recognise that convenience and scalability must be matched with resilience and preparation.
The reliability of a digital business depends not only on the technology it builds, but also on the infrastructure it relies on to keep that technology running.
Read also: Sam Altman outlines three possible futures for safe AI