Google Cloud outage disrupts remote hearings on HMCTS Cloud Video Platform
Remote court and tribunal hearings in England and Wales were disrupted on October 20, 2026, after a power event at a Google Cloud facility in its London europe-west2 region knocked out services. HM Courts & Tribunals Service said it was aware of an issue affecting its Cloud Video Platform and was working with technology partners to restore service. Google later said services had been restored.
Report (Law Gazette) → · The Guardian
Key points
- HMCTS told court users having trouble joining a hearing to contact the court or tribunal handling their case.Law Gazette
- Google attributed the outage to a power event in its europe-west2-b zone at a third-party facility.Law GazetteThe Guardian
- The same outage hit banks including Lloyds, HSBC and Revolut, as well as Royal Mail and the NHS app.Law GazetteThe Guardian
- Cloud Video Platform has been used in civil and family courts since 2020, after earlier use in Crown and magistrates' courts.Law Gazette
- Google said it will publish an analysis of the incident on its public status dashboard.The Guardian