Google has restored its cloud services in the United Kingdom after an hours-long outage disrupted digital banking services and several public-sector and commercial websites.
The disruption, which occurred on Tuesday, affected services used by financial institutions and other businesses, highlighting concerns about the growing dependence of critical services on a handful of major cloud computing providers.
Google said its engineering teams had restored full service availability following a disruption caused by a “power event” in its europe-west2 cloud region, a London-based network of data centres and availability zones serving customers across Europe.
Among the affected services was digital bank Revolut, which said the outage disrupted multiple functions, including card payments and ATM withdrawals. However, the company assured customers that their money and data remained safe.
Outage-tracking website Downdetector also recorded reports of problems affecting Lloyds Bank, HSBC, property website Rightmove, parcel delivery company DPD, NHS England and Royal Mail.
Lloyds said it expected its services to return to normal after the underlying issues were resolved, while HSBC acknowledged that some customers were experiencing difficulties accessing its services.
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Royal Mail said it was aware of the disruption but confirmed that letter and parcel deliveries were unaffected. Rightmove, DPD and NHS England did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The incident has renewed concerns among UK and European regulators about the financial sector’s reliance on a small number of external technology providers whose systems support essential banking and other services.
In July, the UK brought Google Cloud, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Oracle under direct regulatory oversight as critical third-party suppliers to the financial sector. The move was aimed at reducing risks associated with outages at major providers that could disrupt multiple financial institutions simultaneously.
Google Cloud was also among 19 technology companies designated by European Union regulators in 2025 as critical third-party computing providers relied upon by the bloc’s financial industry.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said the regulator was aware of the incident and was engaging with Google and affected firms to understand its impact.
Meanwhile, Germany’s ING said it had observed issues with its website and application but had no indication that the disruption was caused by an external provider or was connected to a third-party service.
The outage underscores the potential consequences of disruptions to cloud infrastructure, as banks, public services and businesses increasingly depend on external providers to maintain digital operations.
About the Author
Cecilia Attah is a tech analyst with a degree from Benue State University. She covers tech news and startups at TechRegard with a focus on how technology is transforming Africa and shaping the global landscape.
