GP and hospital appointments cancelled as record systems fail

Passengers have described "bedlam" at UK airports after a global IT outage on what was due to be the busiest day for flying since 2019, while train networks have also been disrupted.

- Gwyn Topham

More than 1,000 flights have been cancelled worldwide as Microsoft Windows systems used by airlines, airports and some air traffic control centres were affected.

Gatwick and Luton were among the hubs where airline check-in systems were hit, while the biggest commuter rail network, GTR, said its Thameslink and Southern trains had been disrupted owing to communications systems failing.

Elsewhere, several US carriers, including American Airlines and Delta, temporarily grounded all flights. The Dutch airline KLM said flight handling was "impossible" and it largely suspended operations yesterday, while Swiss air traffic control had to cut flights by 30%. Problems were also reported in India, Japan and Australia.

The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said her department was "working at pace with industry and across government on the issue".

A passenger at Gatwick, Britain's second busiest airport, said he had queued for more than three and a half hours at check-in, with staff handing out water to those waiting on Britain's hottest day of the year so far.