O2 goes DOWN: Mobile network leaves thousands of customers unable to make or receive calls during an hour-long outage that sends the internet into a fury

  • Thousands of customers reported problems with the mobile network
  • Users in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Belfast were affected

By HARRY PETTIT FOR MAILONLINE

Published: | Updated:

O2 went down for customers across the UK Thursday evening, leaving thousands unable to make or receive calls.

Customers reported problems with the network in cities including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Belfast.

It remains unclear what caused the outage, which hit the network around 4:15pm BST.

DownDetector.uk reported there were more than 2,000 reports of problems with O2's network

DownDetector.uk reported there were more than 2,000 reports of problems with O2's network

DownDetector.uk reported there were more than 2,000 reports of problems with O2's network in under an hour of downtime.

Tesco, Sky Mobile, Lycamobile and Giffgaff all use the network, but far fewer customers reported problems with those operators.

An O2 spokesperson told MailOnline that the network fixed the issue within 40 minutes.

'Some customers experienced some problems making and receiving calls yesterday. Full service has since been returned to normal,' they said early Friday morning.

'We apologise for any inconvenience caused to those customers affected and we will now begin a full investigation to identify the root cause.'

Angry customers took to Twitter to complain about the outage.

Customers reported problems with the network in cities ranging including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Belfast

Customers reported problems with the network in cities ranging including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Belfast

User Keith wrote: 'O2 can’t make calls , seems to be impacting a number of users. Web site status tracker is down to. Any advice?'

Laura Dawson tweeted: 'Phone network down not able to make any calls at all which is frustrating as this is my work phone so need it to contact clients on for tomorrow any news on when the network will be up and running again as this is URGENT !!!'

Mickey Wildman said: 'Hi O2 I know you guys are getting loads of Tweets. I’m guessing the network is currently down? I have rebooted my iPhone but still the same.'

Even former England and Manchester United footballer Gary Neville voiced his complaints about the outage.

He tweeted: Hey O2 your network is down in Old Trafford . Not a surprise normally but it’s not match day !' 

It remains unclear what caused the outage, which hit the mobile network around 4:15pm BST

It remains unclear what caused the outage, which hit the mobile network around 4:15pm BST

Most watched News videos