Microsoft outage: how to reach Cornwall Council, police and schools

If you’ve tried emailing a council office, a school or the police today and heard nothing back, the problem isn’t your inbox.

A global Microsoft outage that started on Thursday evening has taken down Outlook, Teams, Copilot and other Microsoft 365 services across dozens of countries. By Friday morning it had reached a long list of organisations across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Many of them can’t read or reply to emails, and some online forms aren’t getting through at all.

Phone lines are mostly working, so here’s who has been affected and the best way to reach them.

What’s causing it

Microsoft says some of its servers became unexpectedly unavailable, which piled extra load onto the rest. Automated health checks then kept shutting services down. The company says it isn’t aware of any malicious activity.

On Friday morning Microsoft’s status page said: “We are seeing early signs of stabilisation, but service capacity has not yet returned to normal levels and health remains variable as traffic is carefully reintroduced.”

Microsoft has extended its email timeout window to 48 hours so delayed messages aren’t lost. Emails held up during the outage may arrive in batches once services recover.

So far the disruption has hit email, Teams and online forms, while phone lines across the organisations we’ve checked are still working.

Devon and Cornwall Police

Devon and Cornwall Police has warned that some online form submissions may not be getting through.

“Due to a global Microsoft service issue, some online form submissions may be affected,” the force said. “If your report is time-critical but not an emergency, please call 101. In an emergency, call 999.”

In a statement sent to CornishStuff, the force said multiple police forces in the UK have been affected, and that it will share updates on its social media channels as they come in.

If you have an emergency, the advice hasn’t changed. Call 999.

Cornwall Council and Cornwall Housing

Cornwall Council said people may have trouble getting through to its contact centre or submitting forms on its website. It asked residents to “bear with us while Microsoft works to restore its services.”

Councillors are affected too. Cornwall councillor Kate Ewert told residents that because the council uses Outlook for all its emails, she has no access to hers, and asked anyone who needs her today to phone instead.

Cornwall Housing says its email and online reporting forms are down. It’s asking tenants not to use the forms until everything is back up and running.

• Emergencies or urgent repairs: call 0300 1234 161 as usual
• Non-urgent enquiries: send them once services are restored

Isles of Scilly

The Council of the Isles of Scilly says emails to and from the council are disrupted, along with some other services. Replies may take longer than usual.

Its customer hubs at Carn Gwaval and St Mary’s Library are open normal hours. Phone lines are working, though the council says they may be busier than usual.

Town councils

Newquay Town Council has activated its business continuity plan.

• Urgent matters: call 01637 878388. The council says the phone line is its top priority while emails are down.
• General enquiries: use its social media channels, or the emergency email address it has set up for the outage, [email protected]

The council said there was no confirmed timeframe yet for when emails would be fixed.

Truro City Council says its emails are affected, including those for Visit Truro and Visitor Services, Boscawen Park & Pavilion, Café in the Park and the Countryside Rangers team. Its offices remain open, and you can call 01872 274766.

St Stephen-in-Brannel Parish Council has also shared Cornwall Council’s notice with its residents.

Schools and colleges

Penryn College says school emails are not working today.

• Contact the school: call 01326 372379
• Student absences: report them through ClassCharts
• Safeguarding concerns: call the school
• Meetings booked on Teams will be rearranged for a later date

Mounts Bay Academy in Penzance says all its staff are currently unable to read or reply to emails. Parents are asked to use Arbor or phone the main school reception.

Truro and Penwith College says all its campuses are open and lessons are running as normal. It recommends using something other than email for anything urgent.

Cornwall College has apologised for any delays in replying to messages while the outage goes on.

GP surgeries

Helston Medical Centre & Porthleven Surgery says there may be delays in processing requests. Its websites and online consultation tools are still available, and there are no problems with its phones.

Rosmellyn Surgery in Penzance says it has no access to its emails and may be unable to respond to messages. Patients with an urgent matter are asked to phone 330909, and routine enquiries should wait until next week, when it hopes services will be restored.

Carn to Coast Health Centres says it can’t access its emails, but its Klinik online consultations are working normally. You can use the online consult or call 01209 717471.

Cornwall Airport Newquay

Cornwall Airport Newquay says it is having email disruption. All enquiries should go to its Information Desk on 01637 860600.

Other organisations

Truro City Community Trust can’t access or reply to emails. You can call it on 07340 328969.

Home care provider Alexandras Community Care is asking clients to phone their local office today:

• Penryn: 01326 314642
• Penzance: 01736 368699
• Redruth: 01209 610878
• St Austell: 01726 879207
• Truro: 01726 883763

Several of the organisations say they will post updates on their own websites and social media channels as Microsoft brings services back. So far, none of them has been given a time for when that will be.