Schools and council hit by Microsoft outage, as services go down at businesses and public facilities

SCHOOLS across Northern Ireland have lost the ability to email in Microsoft’s global outage, a provincewide body has said, as everything from a major car dealer to a recruitment agency to a leisure centre all revealed they’d been affected.

Businesses, charities and public sector facilities in Ulster have all been hit, while the software giant scrambled to fix its problems.

The Education Authority, which oversees government controlled schools throughout Northern Ireland, stated that neither it nor those schools can currently send or receive emails.

It stated on social media: “Due to a global Microsoft outage, Outlook is currently unavailable to NI schools and the Education Authority.

“Emails cannot currently be sent or received.

"Microsoft is working to resolve the issue, and further updates will be provided throughout the day.”

Mid Ulster District Council is facing similar issues.

“Due to the ongoing Microsoft global outage, Council email access is currently unavailable for both outgoing and incoming emails,” said a spokesperson.

“If you need to get in touch urgently with the Council, please message us on social media, contact our Customer Services team on 03000 132 132 or visit our offices in Cookstown, Dungannon and Magherafelt.”

Stated the body on social media: “This means we may not be able to read or reply to messages sent to us while Microsoft works to fix the issue.

"We are sharing updates with our staff via the channels we have available and our services and are following their business continuity plans.”