A major global outage occurred on October 20, 2025, impacting several popular websites and apps after Amazon Web Services (AWS) experienced disruptions. Websites and apps such as Amazon, Snapchat, and Facebook were affected, along with airlines like Delta and United in the U.S. Customers complained of being unable to check-in for flights and missing reservations and seat assignments. In the United Kingdom, customers of banks like Lloyds and Bank of Scotland also reported issues accessing their accounts. AWS stated that by 6:01 p.m. ET, all services had returned to normal operations, although some services had a backlog of messages to process.
The global online disruption was prompted by the widespread outage of AWS, an Internet-based cloud service for Amazon. AWS initially reported increased error rates and latencies across its services in the early hours of Monday morning. By 4:26 a.m. ET, Amazon confirmed significant error rates for requests to the DynamoDB endpoint in the US-EAST-1 Region. At 11:43 a.m., AWS provided an update on the root cause of the disruption, attributing it to an underlying internal subsystem responsible for monitoring the health of network load balancers. Amazon assured that they were actively working on resolving the issue.
The outage had a significant impact on various sectors, disrupting not just popular apps and websites, but also airlines and banks. Customers faced difficulties in accessing their accounts, making reservations, and checking in for flights due to the disruption. The outage highlighted the reliance of many businesses and services on cloud-based platforms like AWS, raising concerns about the vulnerability of such systems to large-scale disruptions. The incident served as a reminder of the importance of robust backup systems and contingency plans for businesses relying on cloud services.
In response to the outage, AWS worked to resolve the issue and restore normal operations across its services. By 6:01 p.m. ET, all services had returned to normal, although some services required additional time to process backlogged messages. The incident underscored the critical role that AWS plays in supporting a wide range of online services and platforms. It also highlighted the need for continuous monitoring and maintenance of cloud-based systems to prevent and mitigate disruptions that can impact businesses and customers worldwide.
Overall, the global outage caused by AWS disruptions on October 20, 2025, had far-reaching effects on popular websites, apps, airlines, and banks. The incident underscored the importance of robust backup systems and contingency plans for businesses relying on cloud services. It also emphasized the need for continuous monitoring and maintenance of cloud-based platforms to prevent and mitigate disruptions that can impact businesses and customers globally.
