Google says services are recovering after a 'power event' at London datacentres knocked out banks, courts and the NHS app

Revolut customers found themselves blocked from using cards or taking cash out of ATMs after faults emerged in Google's europe-west2 region from around 7am. Court proceedings were suspended, and HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax, DPD and Royal Mail all reported problems. Google said 'we apologize to all who are affected'. By 3pm the fault was described as 'mitigated for most' customers, though a 'very small number' remained affected.

Disruption peaked around 9am, and Google advised customers to shift their work to other systems.

Revolut maintained 'all our customers' money and data are safe' as its app struggled.

Experts warn that Britain relies on a handful of tech giants to keep running.