Passengers and patients are being warned of disruption after a major IT outage this morning which is also affecting businesses such as GP surgeries.

Overnight, Microsoft confirmed it was investigating an issue with its services and apps, with the tech giant’s service health website warning of “service degradation” that meant users may not be able to access many of the company’s most popular services, used by millions of business and people around the world.

Cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt also reported seeing issues at global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.

Rail passengers are among those affected. Train service information website National Rail Enquiries said there are “widespread IT issues across the entire network”.

Merseyrail has reported: "Due to a Microsoft outage, we are currently experiencing a technical issue which is affecting our passenger information boards and our ability to print third party retailer tickets at stations.

"Some delays across the network might not be displayed. We are working hard to fix this issue and apologise for any inconvenience."

City Walls Medical Centre is among many GP practices whose IT systems have been affected by the outage.

A message on their website on Friday morning read: "Please be advised that our clinical system is currently down due to widespread IT outages. This will result in delays and the cancellation of routine appointments."

The GP practice advised that anyone with an urgent medical problem should call the practice directly.

Whitby Health Partnership in Ellesmere Port has this message: "Unfortunately our computer systems are down, this is a national issue and we aim to resolve as soon as possible.

"We apologise for any inconvenience. Please only contact the surgery this morning if your problem is of an urgent nature."

And Westminster Surgery has this message: "We are currently experiencing issues with our computer systems and are unable to access any patients records.

"This is a national issue and engineers are currently working to resolve this. If you have an appointment, please still attend as normal."