Users across the United Kingdom experienced significant disruption to major online platforms on Tuesday morning as several key internet services encountered widespread technical problems.
Widespread Service Disruption
Reports began flooding into DownDetector from approximately 11am on Tuesday 18th November 2025, indicating problems with multiple high-profile platforms. The affected services included X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, Amazon Web Services, Cloudflare and OpenAI.
According to data from the outage tracking website, users reported being completely unable to access their accounts through both mobile applications and desktop browsers. The breakdown of issues with X specifically showed that 58% of problems related to the app, while 32% concerned web access.
Recovery and Previous Incidents
Service restoration began gradually throughout the morning, with X reportedly returning to normal operation and users regaining access to their accounts. The timing and nature of the disruptions raised concerns among technology experts and regular users alike.
This incident follows a similar Amazon Web Services outage that occurred in late October, which caused numerous apps and websites to go offline. The root cause of that previous outage was identified as an error in an update affecting the Domain Name System (DNS).
Understanding DNS Problems
The Domain Name System functions as the internet's address book, converting familiar website names into numerical IP addresses that computers use to locate servers. During the October incident, the DNS issue prevented applications from finding the correct IP address for DynamoDB's API, causing connection failures.
As DynamoDB experienced problems, other AWS services began to fail in a cascading effect. The October outage ultimately affected 113 different services, highlighting the interconnected nature of modern internet infrastructure and the widespread impact that problems with major providers can create.
Technology companies have been working to improve the resilience of their systems following these incidents, but Tuesday's problems demonstrate the ongoing challenges in maintaining uninterrupted service across complex digital ecosystems.
