How Dorset was affected by the major Microsoft IT outage

It was first reported yesterday morning (Friday, July 19) that businesses had been knocked offline after a major IT outage, which was believed to have been caused by a faulty update to widely used cybersecurity software.

Major infrastructure including doctor’s surgeries, pharmacies, airlines and rail services were all grounded to a halt after their computer systems were showing the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

Microsoft were made aware of the issue and was looking to fix it with its cloud platform, Azure, but many cybersecurity experts reported the source to be cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, which provides cyber-attack monitoring and protection to many major businesses.

The chief executive of CrowdStrike, the firm at the centre of the global IT outage, has said he is 'deeply sorry' for the incident, but warned it would take 'some time' for systems to be fully restored.

South Western Railway (SWR) customers were experiencing issues with buying tickets using machines at stations. One member of staff at the Weymouth Train Station confirmed that the ticket machine had been turned off, with customers forced to purchase tickets over the counter.

The ticket machine at Weymouth Train Station was turned off (Image: Supplied) A spokesperson for SWR, said: “Due to IT issues across the South Western Railway network all ticket vending machines are currently non operational. Please purchase your ticket online, on the train or speak to a member of station staff. We apologise for the inconvenience this causes.”

Customers at the Waitrose in Queen Mother Square, Poundbury said the business was accepting cash only. A spokesperson for Waitrose, said: “We are pleased to say that all payments are back to normal, so no issues at Waitrose.

"We were briefly unable to take contactless payment this morning, but could still take cash and card payments via Chip & PIN, so impact was thankfully limited."

People had also been experiencing issues at Rowlands Pharmacy on Littlemoor Road. 

Queues have been seen outside Rowlands Pharmacy on Littlemoor Road, with a notice inside reading: "Microsoft is currently experiencing an IT Outage worldwide that is affecting some of our services. 

"Our team is actively working to resolve this issue and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. 

"We thank you for your patience."

Customers waiting patiently in the queues have said they have had to get money out from the cash machine at Chalbury Corner.  

Queues of people outside Rowlands Pharmacy on Littlemoor Road (Image: Andy Jones) Margarita, manager at Rowlands Pharmacy on Littlemoor Road, said: "Yes we are affected. 

"We are following our contingency plan. At first we could not serve any customers as all the computers were down and we had no systems. 

"Some services are still affected but we are able to process some with paper. We are not able to order any stock.

"The main issue is the SPINE database that we cannot access. 

"All of Rowlands is affected. We are trying our best not to affect our customers."

A spokesperson for the NHS Dorset, said: "Practices in Dorset currently use an electronic record system that has not been affected by the reported IT issues, and we are not aware of any impact within the county. Therefore, we advise people to assume appointments will go ahead unless they are contacted by their practice.

"Services in community pharmacies, including accessing prescriptions from GPs and medicine deliveries, are disrupted today. The NHS has long standing measures in place to manage the disruption, including using paper patient records and handwritten prescriptions."

Mydentist in Bridport released a statement saying they were unable to take card payments, whilst Queens Avenue Surgery in Dorset said they had ‘a lot of issues although no specific problems with the surgery.’

First Bus services in Dorset were not hit by the outage. A spokesperson for First Bus said: “Although some First Group businesses have been affected, First Bus has not been impacted.  Our customer channels, website and First Bus app are unaffected, and we haven’t received any customer queries to our contact centre indicating any disruption from passengers.  We continue to monitor the situation and will issue updates to customers should this change.”

Dorset Council, and emergency services were also not affected by the outage.