Q1 2026 saw an unusually high number of severe Internet disruptions globally. Government-directed shutdowns hit Uganda (around its presidential election) and Iran (amid military escalation), with Iran's blackout lasting through the end of the quarter. Cuba suffered three separate national electrical grid collapses in March, each causing major connectivity losses. Drone strikes physically damaged AWS data centers in the UAE and Bahrain, disrupting cloud infrastructure in the Middle East. Additional disruptions were caused by power outages in Argentina, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Moldova, and the U.S. Virgin Islands; Storm Kristin in Portugal; submarine cable damage in the Republic of Congo; a Verizon software outage in the US; and unexplained provider outages in Guinea and the UK. Data is sourced from Cloudflare Radar traffic and BGP routing observations.
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Government-directed shutdownsMilitary actionPower outagesSevere weatherCable damageTechnical problemsUnknown causeA quarter marked by major disruptionsSort: