Messaging platform WhatsApp went down for users across the UK and the rest of the world on Tuesday morning.
Thousands took to social media to complain that they are unable to send or receive messages on the popular Meta-owned platform.
WhatsApp confirmed it was aware of the issue and was working to fix the problem.
Among the most concerned users of the app are likely to be Conservative MPs – the platform is a widely used tool among backbenchers, Cabinet ministers, and their aides to discuss public messaging and regularly gauge the mood of the Parliamentary party.
WhatsApp has gone down for users across the UK
Yui Mok
Thousands have taken to social media to complain that they are unable to send or receive messages
Nick Ansell
And on the day of a Cabinet reshuffle, many MPs hopeful of landing a ministerial job were momentarily without a vital way of sounding out advisers and contacts on their own chances and the fate of their colleagues.
The app has previously been identified as the communications tool of choice for MPs plotting against their leader, and Boris Johnson is said to have often been sent summaries of key Government information via the app during his time in Downing Street.
After opening the app on Tuesday morning, users found that while they can still access their conversations, the app is failing to deliver new messages, or send any that they attempt to transmit.
A persistent message was showing for many users at the top of the app, saying it was “connecting” to the server, but then appears to fail to do so, leaving users unable to send or receive any messages.
According to the service status website Downdetector, users began reporting issues with WhatsApp at just before 8am on Tuesday morning, with more than 12,000 reports of issues reported to the website by 8.30am.
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the UK and around the world and is estimated to have more than two billion active users globally.
In a statement, a WhatsApp spokesperson said: “We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible.”