Dozens of websites and applications have experienced disruptions today due to a widespread Amazon Web Services (AWS) outage. AWS, a key provider of digital infrastructure, is currently facing technical difficulties, resulting in a significant number of online services encountering issues.
Affected platforms include popular services like Snapchat, Slack, Ring, Signal, Virgin Media, BT, EE, and Sky, as well as the online platforms of major UK banks such as Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland. The HMRC website has also been impacted by the outage.
AWS has acknowledged the source of the problem and reports that most services are gradually being restored. A recent update states, “We are witnessing recovery across the majority of the affected AWS Services. Global services dependent on US-EAST-1 are also recovering. We are actively working towards complete resolution and will provide further updates as information becomes available.”
In an earlier announcement, AWS mentioned, “We have identified a potential root cause for error rates impacting the DynamoDB APIs in the US-EAST-1 Region. The issue appears to stem from DNS resolution of the DynamoDB API endpoint in US-EAST-1, affecting various AWS services in the region.”
Downdetector has recorded a surge in outage reports, reaching more than 2,681 for AWS on Monday morning. Both HMRC and Lloyds Bank have acknowledged the disruptions caused by the AWS issues, with HMRC advising customers to call back later due to high call volumes and Lloyds Bank apologizing for the inconvenience and working to restore services promptly.