Facebook and Instagram down as thousands unable to get on to popular apps

There were almost hundreds of reports of issues across Instagram and Facebook this afternoon, with the Meta services apparently suffering a short-term outage. Independent tracker website DownDetector-which analyses mentions of issues across social media-displayed more than 1,900 problem reports.

According to the website, they began to pick up at around 3 p.m. Wednesday, with users from across the UK, including London, Manchester, Nottingham, and Glasgow, reporting issues using the Meta apps. According to DownDetector, 65% of Facebook users reported problems with the server connection, 18% with login, and 17% with the app as of 4.51 p.m.

And on Instagram, 89% have reported problems with the app, 10% with the website and 1% with the feed.

However, the last problem reports for Facebook and Instagram were at at 3.21 and 3.22pm respectively, and DownDetector says user reports "indicate no current problems at Instagram".

The graphs showing spikes in problem reports have returned towards normal baseline levels.

Meanwhile, issues have also been reported on WhatsApp, 68% of which involve sending messages, 17% with the website, and 15% with the app.

Meta has been contacted for comment.