Cloudflare flags surge in major internet outages worldwide

Cloudflare's first-quarter 2026 report on internet disruptions points to a sharp rise in major outages and shutdowns worldwide.

The quarter was marked by government-ordered blackouts, power failures, severe weather, cable damage and military action. That represents a notable shift from the same period a year earlier, when Cloudflare did not observe government-directed shutdowns on the same scale.

Among the most severe incidents was a prolonged loss of internet access in Iran. Traffic from the country fell to near zero from early January until late in the month, with only limited, brief periods of restoration. A second nationwide shutdown later in the quarter again left the country largely offline.

According to the report, the restrictions in Iran appeared to rely on filtering rather than route withdrawals. Cloudflare cited the use of "whitelists" and "white SIM cards" that limited access to approved sites for selected users, and described the disruption as one of the longest sustained internet outages seen in recent years.

Uganda also experienced a nationwide shutdown around its presidential election. Traffic dropped to almost nothing after authorities ordered operators to suspend public internet access. Service was only partially restored after the election result, with full restoration coming later.

Election-related restrictions were also recorded in the Republic of Congo. Internet traffic there fell to near zero for about 60 hours during the presidential vote and its immediate aftermath, mirroring previous election cycles in the country.

Conflict impact

The quarter also showed how physical conflict can affect digital infrastructure. Cloudflare highlighted drone strikes that damaged Amazon Web Services data centres in the Middle East, affecting facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Connection failure rates in the affected AWS regions rose over several days after the strikes. In a status update cited by Cloudflare, Amazon said: "These strikes have caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery to our infrastructure, and in some cases required fire suppression activities that resulted in additional water damage."

The fallout extended beyond local hosting operations because customers often distribute applications and data across regions. Cloudflare said the incident introduced a new category of risk: warfare directly damaging cloud sites used by international businesses.

Military action also disrupted connectivity in Ukraine. In Dnipropetrovsk and surrounding areas, attacks on energy infrastructure led to traffic falling by almost half, while a separate strike on Kharkiv caused a similar decline until power was gradually restored.

Power and weather

Outside conflict zones, electricity failures remained a major source of disruption. Cuba suffered three separate collapses of its national power system in March alone, each causing large drops in internet traffic and underlining the close link between ageing electrical networks and digital resilience.

Cloudflare also recorded outages linked to power failures in Buenos Aires, Mouldova, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic and the US Virgin Islands. In several cases, internet traffic fell sharply for hours before returning as grid operators restored service.

Severe weather was another factor. In Portugal, Storm Kristin caused widespread damage and power cuts, and Cloudflare observed traffic declines of as much as 70% in some regions. Recovery took weeks in parts of the country as electricity service was gradually restored.

For Australia, the findings are particularly relevant because the country depends heavily on subsea cables, remote infrastructure and reliable cloud connectivity. While the report did not identify a major Australian outage in the quarter, it pointed to a global environment in which external shocks can affect markets far beyond the original incident.

Cable faults

Subsea cable vulnerability also featured in the Republic of Congo, where an incident on the West Africa Cable System cut traffic by more than 80% below expected levels. Service returned after backup arrangements and repair work, but the episode showed how a single cable problem can disrupt a national network.

Technical faults also played a role in other markets. Cloudflare cited a software issue at Verizon Wireless in the United States, a service disruption affecting Flow Grenada, a breakdown at Orange Guinée in Guinea and a brief outage at TalkTalk in the UK.

The breadth of incidents across political systems, geographies and network types suggests internet disruption is no longer confined to isolated technical faults. Instead, the report depicts a system exposed to state intervention, fragile utilities, extreme weather, and direct attacks on digital and cloud infrastructure.

As Cloudflare put it: "The first quarter of 2026 was marked by an unusually high number of severe and prolonged Internet disruptions."