Google Cloud Outage Disrupts Banks and Court Hearings in England

A technical disruption at Google Cloud's London data center affected banking services and remote court proceedings on Tuesday, October 20, 2026. Revolut reported problems with card payments and ATM withdrawals, while Germany's ING experienced online banking login difficulties. The outage also prevented legal professionals across parts of England and Wales from proceeding with some trials and hearings.

Google Cloud's service status page confirmed disruptions affecting multiple services in its London region. Google said its engineering team was investigating the incident, which the BBC reported was caused by a power event. Google had not immediately provided further details in response to a Reuters request.

Revolut's service status page showed that most of its services were either unavailable or partially unavailable. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that the digital bank's disruption was connected to the Google Cloud incident.

Revolut addressed customer concerns in a statement posted on X.

"We are currently experiencing a service disruption affecting multiple services. We can confirm that all our customers' money and data are safe," Revolut said.

The bank's statement confirmed that customer funds and data remained safe despite the interruption. However, the reported disruption affected essential banking functions, including card transactions and cash withdrawals at ATMs.

Separately, ING Germany reported technical problems that prevented customers from logging into online banking and its mobile banking app. The available reports did not specify how many customers were affected or when normal service would resume.

The disruption also affected the Cloud Video Platform (CVP), which HM Courts and Tribunals Service uses for remote hearings. The service interruption created difficulties for legal proceedings across large parts of England and Wales, according to statements reported by the BBC.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service acknowledged the problem in a statement posted on X, saying that efforts were underway to restore the affected platform.

"We're working with our technology partners to restore service," HM Courts and Tribunals Service said.

The agency did not directly identify Google Cloud in its statement. The interruption nevertheless affected the remote hearing system used by courts and tribunals, according to the BBC's report.

The Criminal Bar Association described the impact on legal work, saying that barristers representing both the prosecution and the defense could not proceed with some scheduled proceedings.

"Cloud Video Platform (CVP) is down across large parts of England and Wales since 10am. Many of us today, both as prosecution and defence counsel, can not proceed with trials and other hearings.

"Our work to clear backlogs is hampered," the Criminal Bar Association said.

The reported court disruption added pressure to efforts to address existing case backlogs. The reports did not establish how long the outage would last or provide a confirmed timeline for the full restoration of the affected services.