Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Jul 01, 2025

Heatwave forced Google and Oracle to shut down computers

Heatwave forced Google and Oracle to shut down computers

As record temperatures hit much of the UK on Tuesday, tech giants Google and Oracle suffered outages as cooling systems failed at London data centres.

Data centres are large highly secure buildings that hold banks of computers and are the powerhouses behind many online services.

But the concentrated computing power generates heat so powerful that cooling is essential.

Both companies say the problems have now been resolved.

Oracle, a large American database software and technology business, reported overheating problems just before 16:00 BST.

"Following unseasonably high temperatures in the UK south (London) region, two cooler units in the data centre experienced a failure when they were required to operate above their design limits," the company wrote on a status page first spotted by The Register.

"As a result, temperatures in the data centre began to climb, which caused some systems to shut down as a protective measure."

The company said the issue was resolved, in an update posted shortly after 10:00 BST on Wednesday.

As Britain baked, overheating also hit a Google Cloud data centre location in London.

Google Cloud lets other businesses do work on the company's computers.

Just after 18:00 BST, the company reported that "there has been a cooling-related failure in one of our buildings".

In order to prevent damage to machines and an extended outage, the firm said it powered down some of them.

The problem was fixed by 07:00 BST on Wednesday and the company said that only a "small set of our customers" were affected.


Because the data processed can be highly valuable to their customers, data centres are built with many back-ups, including plenty of cooling capacity.

Experts the BBC spoke to on Monday doubted that modern data centres would experience difficulties, so the failures at big, well-resourced, companies like Google will have come as a surprise.

But operators were wary of the unprecedented temperatures.

Paul Hone, of Redcentric, which operates data centres in Harrogate, London, Reading and Cambridge, told the BBC that the firm had put its disaster recovery plan into action on Monday.

Mr Hone added that while data centres are designed to withstand hot weather, the heatwave's temperatures would be at the "upper end of design expectations for a lot of data centre operators".

In the end, for Mr Hone, Tuesday passed without incident.

But additional cooling means additional electricity consumption, which in turn can mean increased carbon emissions.

With climate scientists warning that very hot days will become more frequent, tech firms are exploring greener cooling solutions and computer systems that consume less power and generate less heat.

Microsoft carried out an experiment with an underwater data centre off Orkney in 2020. Part of the attraction was the natural cooling provided by the surrounding seawater.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
Mass exodus in Tehran as millions try to flee following Trump’s evacuation order
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
Iran Conducts Ballistic Missile Launches Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
Trump's Anti-War Stance Tested Amid Israel-Iran Conflict
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
Black Box Recovered from Air India Crash Site
×