Virgin Media Outage: Thousands Left Without Internet

A major Virgin Media internet outage has left thousands of customers across the UK without service. The disruption, which began around 9:50 am on February 24th, 2025, saw over 9,000 people report issues on Downdetector, a website that tracks online service disruptions. This marks a significant disruption for the provider's extensive customer base.

Widespread Disruption Across the UK

The outage impacted a wide geographical area, with London experiencing the highest concentration of reported problems. Other severely affected areas included Plymouth, Manchester, Nottingham, and Birmingham. Reports also surfaced from cities such as Glasgow, Dundee, and Belfast, highlighting the broad scale of the disruption. Frustrated users took to social media, with many expressing their anger and concern about the lack of reliable service.

User Complaints and Responses

Many users reported issues ranging from complete internet loss to problems accessing specific services like Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. One user noted difficulty accessing Azure-hosted services, while others complained about inability to access Virgin Media's own help pages. The situation was exacerbated by Virgin Media's service checker page also going down, making it difficult for customers to obtain status updates.

Virgin Media's official response acknowledged the widespread issues, stating they are aware of the problem and working to resolve it as a priority. However, the lack of detailed information and the inconsistent performance of their service checker fueled further customer frustration.

Potential Causes and Workarounds

While the exact cause of the outage remains unclear, speculation pointed to potential network issues. The fact that BT also experienced simultaneous outages further fueled concerns about a broader network problem. As a temporary solution, some users reported success using free VPNs built into browsers like Opera One R2 and Opera Air to bypass the issue.

Resolution and Ongoing Updates

Initial estimates suggested a resolution around 1 pm on February 24th, 2025. While Downdetector showed a decreasing number of reported outages, the situation remained fluid. The reliability of Virgin Media's service checker being questionable made assessing the true extent of the resolution difficult for both customers and the general public.

This widespread outage underscores the reliance on stable internet services and the impact of major disruptions on both individuals and businesses.