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2 months ago
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Pubgoers have had their hopes dashed of a cooling pint in the pub on the hottest day of the year after Wetherspoons became the latest victim in the massive Microsoft outage affecting businesses around the world.
The technical fault, which caused Windows software to suddenly shut down, grounded flights and knocked hospitals, GP surgeries, train services, banks, stock exchanges and TV channels offline.
Now pub chain Wetherspoons seems to have been affected as well, with many people posting on social media that their local pub is 'in chaos', 'crippled', closed or only accepting cash.
One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: 'Oh is THAT why Wetherspoons is in chaos this morning. App down. Cash only. Kitchen screens blank. People are surviving on their wits out here.'
Another said: 'I hope no one was planning on going to Wetherspoons tonight, Microsoft has crippled them.'
Fears for cheers: Customers are reporting their local Wetherspoons pub is closed, 'in chaos', 'crippled' or only accepting cash after a global IT outage affecting millions
US cyber security company CrowdStrike has admitted to being responsible for the error and said 'fix has been deployed'
The outage has been described by IT bosses today as a 'digital pandemic affecting millions', with others fearing the disruption will last long into the weekend.
Microsoft confirmed it was investigating an 'issue' with its 365 apps and operating systems and said a resolution was 'forthcoming'.
US cyber security company CrowdStrike has admitted to being responsible for the error and said a 'fix has been deployed'. The firm said it was caused by a 'defect found in a single content update' and insisted the issue 'was not a security incident or cyberattack'.
CrowdStrike shares opened 15% down at the start of trading today - wiping $12.5billion (£10.5bn) of the company's value - while Microsoft also opened down.
Windows is the most used operating system in the world, meaning the outage is affecting almost every part of the global economy.
One user said their local Wetherspoons pub was 'in chaos' this morning after the outage
Another user said that Microsoft had 'crippled' pub chain Wetherspoons
One customer said they could only pay with cash when they had breakfast at their local pub
Using some tongue-in-cheek humour, one user said the situation was 'bl**dy serious' because the chain pub's app was also down
Another, posting with an angry emoji reaction, said the incident was 'serious' because the Wetherspoons chain had also been affected
Aside from Wetherspoons this includes other supermarkets and hospitality venues, including Morrisons, Waitrose and the bakery chain Gail's, unable to take card payments.
TV channels including Sky News and CBBC spent time off air this morning.
There was also a day of chaos at airports which saw departure boards immediately turn off at Heathrow, Gatwick and Edinburgh on the busiest day for British air travel since before the Covid pandemic.
MailOnline has contacted Wetherspoons for comment.
This is a developing story.
One user reported that their local in Market Harborough, Leicestershire had shut as a result of the IT outage affected businesses globally
At a Wetherspoons in Oxford, social media user Tom reported that the pub was only accepting cash payments
English (US)