Image source, Getty Images

A number of airlines around the world have been affected by an IT outage with almost 1,400 flights cancelled and others delayed.

In these circumstances, airlines have a duty to look after you, including providing meals and accommodation if necessary.

However, consumer group Which? says customers will not be entitled to any additional financial compensation for delays because these are extraordinary circumstances.

"Airlines should also reroute you as quickly as possible, though given the global nature of the problem, this may not be immediately possible," it added.

So what are your rights if your journey is disrupted?

• We've got all the information you need here

Ben Hatton
Live reporter

Airports across the UK have experienced disruption today with IT outages causing flights to be delayed or cancelled across the world.

Here's the latest from Heathrow, Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick:

• Heathrow says that, overall, flights are departing and arriving smoothly, with extra staff in place to "minimise the impact"
• Stansted says some airline check-in systems and retailer payments were impacted but these are back up and running, although there are longer than usual queues – 10 departing flights and their return arrivals were cancelled
• Manchester Airport says check-in and boarding continues to be affected for some airlines – in those cases it's being carried out manually and so taking longer than normal
• Gatwick's latest update – issued this morning – said the issue was continuing to impact some airlines' check-in systems and security

With the extent of disruption varying depending on the airport and flight, the key bit of advice many are issuing is for passengers to check with their airline for the latest information.

Overall flights at Heathrow Airport are departing and arriving "smoothly", a spokesperson says.

The statement adds: "It has been a busy, as expected day, but colleagues are delivering a stable operation.

"Colleagues are working hard to get passengers on their way with additional colleagues are on hand in the terminals to answer any questions passengers may have."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting tells the BBC his advice to patients today is to "continue to access services as normal".

But he adds if you find your pharmacist or GP looking "more stressed" than normal "just bear with them".

"And let's be honest, on a normal day they're under a lot of pressure," he says.

In a post on X earlier, Streeting said his department was "working closely with colleagues across government".

Concern patients will turn to A&E for help as GP services disruptedpublished at 16:41 British Summer Time 19 July

16:41 BST 19 July

Hugh Pym
Health editor

There's no doubting the severe impact of the IT disruption on GP practices in England and Northern Ireland.

Access to digital patient records including test results and bookings has failed. The usual electronic prescription system is also down so only written versions are being generated.

Pharmacists are sending patients back to their GPs to get alternative written prescriptions. For an already pressurised GP system this is the last thing doctors and patients needed.

Urgent and emergency care in hospitals is not affected but there has been disruption to administrative IT functions such as staff rostering. Some staff are working from paper for certain tasks.

The worry for hospitals in the days ahead is that more patients frustrated with GP problems will start arriving at A&E for help.

Crowdstrike's chief executive George Kurtz said the company's customers "remain fully protected" despite the ongoing IT outage.

"Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected," he said in a post on X.

"We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on," he added.

Earlier, he said a fix had been issued but that it could be "some time" before all systems are back up and running.

Around 3,340 flights have been cancelled worldwide, or about 3% of all scheduled services, according to aviation data company Cirium.

This is the total number of cancellations, meaning some may not be due to the IT outage.

How could Crowdstrike's update do so much damage?published at 15:32 British Summer Time 19 July

15:32 BST 19 July

Joe Tidy
Cyber correspondent

There are suggestions, from the wording of the Crowdstrike CEO, that this dodgy overnight update was supposed to be small.

A "content update" is how it was described. So, it wasn’t a major refresh of the cyber security software. It could have been something as innocuous as the changing of a font or logo on the software design.

That would potentially explain why the software wasn’t as rigorously checked in the same way a major update would have been. And how it sailed through to all computers without being blocked.

But it also poses huge questions to the cyber security company: how could a small update do so much damage?

You can hear more from me on this issue in conversation with Adam Fleming and Faisal Islam on the latest Newscast.

Workers may experience a delay in their pay following the IT outage that's hit industries across the world, a body representing payroll providers says.

Melanie Pizzey, the Global Payroll Association's chief executive, says the outage could have "serious implications for businesses" across the nation, particularly those who process payroll weekly.

She says the outage could lead to a backlog which may delay pay for employees who are paid weekly or monthly.

"At best, it will require those managing payroll to work overtime to rectify the issue," she adds.

Jonathan Josephs
Business reporter

Shares in Crowdstrike have opened nearly 15% down on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.

That's wiped about $12.5bn off the value of the cyber security company.

Tech expert Dan Ives, from Wedbush Securities, says: "Crowdstrike has a strong brand and global marketing presence which will need to go into next gear over the coming weeks and months to curtail some damage from this."

He says that despite the widespread problems its caused he still has a positive long term view of the company as an investment prospect.

Liv McMahon
Technology reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The team behind Formula One drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell appeared to have encountered the same PC issues that airlines and banking services have been experiencing this morning – at least according to an image doing the rounds on social media.

It shows Mercedes team members in t-shirts emblazoned with Crowdstrike’s logo, whilst apparently contending with the same blue screen of death their update has wrought on many PCs.

Formula One drivers have been taking to the Hungaroring racetrack near Budapest for their first practice ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Aoife Walsh
Live page editor

As queues stacked up at airports, TV channels went off-air and medical appointments were postponed, anti-virus firm Crowdstrike quickly became a household name when it confirmed a bug in its software was to blame for IT issues on Microsoft devices across the world.

Here's where things stand:

• Crowdstrike says it has fixed the erroneous update, but it could be "some time" before systems are back up and running
• Our cyber correspondent Joe Tidy explains here why it could take days to fix - Microsoft has suggested switching devices on and off again up to 15 times
• More than 1,300 flights have been cancelled and many others delayed
• Sky News spent most of the morning off-air as broadcasters also faced issues, with Australia's ABC unable to function properly for six hours

• In the UK, trains, payment in shops, pharmacies and GP surgeries have been hit – supermarket Morrisons says its earlier problems have been fixed

• Crowdstrike boss George Kurtz says he's "deeply sorry" for the disruption

After huge disruption, there are signs that some companies and services are beginning to get back up and running. We're currently looking into the state of play in key areas and will bring you more on that when we have it.

In the meantime, if you've been affected by the outage, you can get in touch here.

Is Musk right - is this the biggest IT fail ever?published at 14:07 British Summer Time 19 July

14:07 BST 19 July

Joe Tidy
Cyber correspondent

Tesla and X boss Elon Musk earlier branded today's outage as the "biggest IT fail ever" - but is he right?

In terms of immediate impact on people, it’s hard to think of a worse one. No other incident has affected such a broad swathe of industry and society.

The most recent mega outage was when Meta, the company that owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, fell over in 2021. That affected billions of social media users as well as millions of businesses.

But this Crowdstrike outage is on another level. The closest case we’ve had is all the way back in 2017 when two deliberate cyberattacks took hundreds of thousands of computers offline, and had a massive impact on NHS services.

But again, this incident has potentially affected many more computers and businesses around the world. The true test to see if Musk is right will be how quickly it takes for normality to return, and how much the clean-up will cost.

Simon Atkinson
Australia producer at Brisbane airport

After a long wait, there's disappointment for hundreds of passengers here in Brisbane airport's domestic departures area - just before 21:00 local time Jetstar confirmed all flights had been cancelled for the day.

Other airlines have had more luck getting their planes in and out of the Queensland capital, but across the nation Jetstar has struggled with check-ins.

The announcement has been taken pretty well on the whole: in truth it has felt inevitable.

Chris Page
Ireland correspondent

The devolved Department of Health in Belfast says around two thirds of GP practices in Northern Ireland have been affected by the IT outage.

The practices are unable to access patient records, generate routine prescriptions or see the results of laboratory tests.

There has also been an impact in hospitals, affecting radiotherapy services, patient bookings for operating theatres, and accessing staff rosters.

Patients are being asked to attend scheduled appointments unless they are specifically told not to. Emergency care services are continuing.

Imran Rahman-Jones
Technology reporter

Microsoft has suggested a fix on its website, external – and it’s a solution many office workers will be familiar with: “Have you tried switching it off and on again?”

That’s what Microsoft says has worked for some users of virtual machines – PCs where the computer is not in the same place as the screen.

Microsoft says: “Several reboots (as many as 15 have been reported) may be required, but overall feedback is that reboots are an effective troubleshooting step at this stage.”

It has also suggested deleting a certain file - the same solution some Crowdstrike employees have been giving on social media.

Freddy Tennyson
BBC London, reporting from St Pancras station

London cabbies have been struggling to take card payments, with taxi driver Tony Vieira saying his customers have been forced to pay in cash.

It could be a "disastrous day” if the problem persists, he says, with added trips to cash points proving costly.

Another taxi driver, Tommy Johnson, says he hasn't been able to log on to his IT system all day, adding that around 95% of his payments are normally with card.

He's been lucky with many customers having cash, but adds: "I have had to turn a few people away".

Zoe Kleinman
Technology editor

It's now been several hours since a single IT update from a US anti-virus company unleashed global havoc.

You may never have heard of the anti-virus firm Crowdstrike before, but something the company did to its virus scanner Falcon had a very adverse effect on computers running Windows software – in their millions.

Blue Screen of Death was reported worldwide.

Microsoft was quick to say it was a “third-party issue” – in other words, not its fault. Apple and Linux users, unaffected, rejoiced.

It's a poignant reminder of how reliant the world has become on devices managed remotely by huge companies, and how powerless it leaves us when they fail.

Sticking with NBC's interview with Crowdstrike's George Kurtz, the cybersecurity boss repeats that the issue was caused by a bug in their update that hit Microsoft operating systems.

"We know what the issue is ... and have resolved the issue," he says.

How long will it take to get everything back up and running for users?

"It could be some time for some systems that just automatically won't recover, but it is our mission... to make sure every customer is fully recovered," he says.