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‘Too big to not fail’: Google outage exposes UK reliance on a handful of cloud providers

A power outage hit a datacentre in London, and things cascaded from there: multiple banking services faltered, court hearings were put on hold and patients…

By The News Engine Desk Based on reporting by The Guardian

20 Oct 2026, 22:20 IST Updated 2 hours ago 1 min read 0 views

Image accompanying the story: ‘Too big to not fail’: Google outage exposes UK reliance on a handful of cloud providers — Image: Photograph: Google Handout/EPA · via The Guardian

The Guardian reports that a power outage hit a datacentre in London, and things cascaded from there: multiple banking services faltered, court hearings were put on hold and patients reported temporary glitches on the NHS app.

Our dependence on internet services of a few key tech companies leaves us vulnerable to cloud failures, bugs and more, experts say It happened again.

This technology story centres on the United Kingdom. Names and organisations mentioned in the coverage include Google, UK and London.

Why it matters

Changes in the tech sector often reach consumers quickly through the devices, apps and online services they use every day.

Key details

Location: United Kingdom · Europe
Reported by: The Guardian
First reported: 20 Oct 2026, 22:20 IST
Key names: Google, UK, London, NHS
Section: Technology
Figure cited: The datacentre in question was in Google’s europe-west2-b zone, one of more than a dozen “zones” that the US search giant maintains in Europe to service its clients. (The Guardian)