On Thursday evening, 20 February 2026, a widespread internet disruption left dozens of major websites and mobile apps temporarily unavailable across the UK, hitting online betting, food delivery and digital services. As The WP Times editorial team reports, users began experiencing problems shortly before 7pm, with reports that bet365 was down and the bet365 app was not working for many UK customers, alongside failures on Uber Eats. The disruption was linked to technical issues affecting Cloudflare, whose infrastructure supports a significant share of global web traffic.
As the outage unfolded, users attempted to determine whether bet365 was down nationwide or if the issue was account-specific, amid mounting complaints that websites were not loading, live betting services had stalled and transactions could not be completed, while food delivery orders on ubereats failed to process or track correctly.
How the outage unfolded
Reports of problems began appearing on Downdetector in the early evening. By around 7pm, more than 5,500 users had flagged issues with bet365 not working, while nearly 4,000 complaints were logged for Uber Eats shortly before 6.40pm. Social media platforms quickly filled with messages from frustrated customers unable to place bets, access live odds or complete food orders already in progress.
Cloudflare provides security, traffic routing and performance optimisation for millions of websites worldwide. When parts of its network are disrupted, any service relying on that infrastructure may fail to load or respond correctly. Industry analysts note that around one fifth of global websites use Cloudflare in some form, making even partial incidents highly visible.
Bet365 response and impact on live betting
A spokesperson for Bet365 acknowledged the issue during the evening, confirming that the company was aware of problems affecting its website and app. Customers were told that technical teams were working to restore full service as quickly as possible and that the firm apologised for the inconvenience. For many users, the most serious concern was the impact on bet365 live betting. Several customers reported being unable to access ongoing bets or watch live streams during the outage window. Others said the app crashed repeatedly, even after reinstalling it, raising questions about fairness for those with active wagers at the time.
Uber Eats and other platforms affected
Food delivery services were also caught up in what some users described as “web mayhem”. Uber Eats customers reported blank screens, stalled orders and payment failures. One user wrote that the app stopped working while their order was already on its way, while others said they were unable to place any order at all. Beyond betting and food delivery, the disruption appeared to affect a broad range of online services. Users reported issues with gaming platforms such as Minecraft, Call of Duty and Roblox, as well as productivity and commerce services including Microsoft 365, eBay and Sky. The common link, according to early technical assessments, was reliance on Cloudflare-managed routing or security layers.
What Cloudflare said
Cloudflare later confirmed that it had identified a technical issue affecting a subset of network prefixes. In a statement, the company said the underlying problem had been mitigated and that work was ongoing to restore availability to impacted customers. It added that some clients could temporarily reduce disruption by re-advertising their prefixes through the Cloudflare dashboard. The company operates a global network spanning more than 330 locations in over 120 countries, connecting around 13,000 internet networks. This scale allows websites to load quickly and handle traffic spikes, but it also means that faults can have far-reaching consequences.
Confusion around outage reporting
The incident comes against a backdrop of debate over how outages are reported and interpreted. Downdetector, which relies on user-submitted reports and automated trend analysis, is often the first place consumers turn when services fail. However, Cloudflare executives have previously argued that spikes in reports do not always reflect genuine infrastructure failures, warning that false signals can spread rapidly when users check multiple services at once. In this case, Cloudflare confirmed there was a real technical issue, though the company has not yet provided a detailed post-incident analysis explaining the precise root cause or why certain services were affected more than others.
For customers, the practical effect was immediate. Betting customers searched for answers to is bet 365 down while attempting to log in repeatedly. Food delivery users saw error messages or unresponsive screens. In many cases, services began to recover gradually rather than all at once, adding to the uncertainty over whether problems had been fully resolved.
By late evening, reports on Downdetector began to decline, suggesting that most platforms were returning to normal operation. However, some users continued to report intermittent issues, particularly with mobile apps rather than desktop access.
This is not the first time a Cloudflare-related issue has caused widespread disruption. Similar incidents in recent months have temporarily knocked out dozens of websites across multiple sectors, highlighting how dependent modern online services have become on a small number of core infrastructure providers. For consumers, the events of Thursday evening underline the fragility of everyday digital services, from placing a live sports bet to ordering dinner. For companies, they raise ongoing questions about resilience, transparency and how best to communicate during fast-moving technical failures.
As of late Thursday night, most major platforms, including bet365 and Uber Eats, appeared to be functioning normally again. Cloudflare said it would continue monitoring the situation, while affected companies were expected to review customer complaints and, where appropriate, consider compensation or goodwill gestures.
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