BROKEN WINDOWS

Chaos at airports as flights axed | Crash the 'largest IT outage ever'

- SIMON MURPHY and GRAHAM HISCOTT

THE dreaded "blue screen of death" that tells users Microsoft Windows has crashed appeared on computers around the globe, sending systems into meltdown.

Yesterday's crash, caused by a faulty update by cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike, sparked chaos at UK airports, with huge queues forming and passengers told to stay away if their flights were cancelled.

TV channels, including Sky News and kids' favourite CBBC, went off air, supermarkets and banks had problems with payments and GP surgeries in England were unable to book appointments or call up patient records, while pharmacies had problems with deliveries and with accessing prescriptions from GPS.

Rail firms warned of disruption, train ticket vending machines stopped working and even cabbies struggled to take Visa card payments.

An emergency Cobra meeting was held by officials in Whitehall to discuss the chaos.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "All ministers, including the Prime Minister, are being informed on the latest."

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said: "Ministers are working with their sectors and respective industries on the issue." Cyber security expert Dr Harjinder Lallie, from the University of Warwick, labelled the outage "unprecedented".

Dan Coatsworth, analyst at AJ Bell, said: "It shows the dark side to technology and that relying on computers doesn't always make life easier." Security consultant Troy Hunt said: "I don't think it's too early to call it. This will be the largest IT outage in history.

George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, the cyber-security company behind the crash, apologised and posted: "This is not a security incident or cyber attack.