Outage traced to key Amazon data centre in Virginia
The disruption was traced to servers based in Virginia, USA, one of the largest and oldest clusters of Amazon data centres. Because so many businesses rely on this single region by default, a fault there can quickly ripple across the world.
BBC technology reporter Shiona McCallum explained that the site’s “age, size, and on-demand capacity” make it more prone to outages.
The incident highlights the increasing risks of relying on a few tech giants to maintain the web’s functionality. While most users should see things return to normal soon, today’s events highlight how even the biggest tech firms can be vulnerable — and how deeply intertwined the internet has become.
What are your rights when online services go down?
When major platforms or apps crash, most users are left frustrated — but not necessarily entitled to compensation. Your rights depend on who you’re dealing with and how the outage affects you.
Essential services – banks, utilities and government platforms
If an outage stops you from accessing your money or paying bills, providers still have a duty of care to make sure you aren’t unfairly penalised.
Banks: Under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules, banks must treat customers fairly. If a bank outage causes you to miss a payment or incur fees, you can ask for a refund or reimbursement. Keep records of the failed transaction or any notifications.
Government services (like HMRC or DVLA): If you miss a deadline because a government website was down, you may be able to appeal penalties or fines by showing the outage prevented access. Departments usually issue guidance after major disruptions.
Subscription services – streaming, gaming, or cloud storage
If a paid app or subscription (such as Netflix, Xbox, or Spotify) is unavailable for a significant time, you may be entitled to a partial refund. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, digital services must be supplied with reasonable care and skill. That said, most outages lasting only a few hours won’t usually qualify for compensation.
Cloud platforms and business users
Businesses that rely on services like AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure are covered by service level agreements (SLAs). These contracts typically offer service credits or partial refunds when uptime targets are missed. However, this rarely extends to end-users or consumers — it’s usually a matter between the cloud provider and its clients (e.g. the app or website you were trying to use).
In this case, compensation is unlikely. Most large-scale outages are treated as technical failures rather than breaches of contract, meaning users are rarely entitled to financial redress unless they’ve suffered a direct, proven loss.
