NHS Borders has confirmed some of its services have been affected by the current global Microsoft IT outage.

Airports and train services around the world have been hit by problems.

And this morning Sky News was not able to broadcast live TV.

NHS Borders is asking patients to contact services directly, if their appointment has been affected today.

A spokesperson said: "One of NHS Borders patient management systems was affected by the current global IT outage.

"Whilst this is having an impact on our community services and mental health services appointment bookings we are implementing business continuity plans to minimise the disruption as far as possible.

"We apologise for any inconvenience to patients who have been affected and thank you for your understanding.

"We are aware that the situation is improving and systems are returning to normal functionality.

"If your appointment has been affected today please contact the service directly."

Microsoft has confirmed it was aware of and fixing issues with its cloud platform, Azure, but many cybersecurity experts have reported the potential source of the issue as global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which provides cyber attack monitoring and protection to many major businesses.

Experts have said a flawed update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor software could be the source of the problem.

In a statement on social media, CrowdStrike said the global IT outage was “not a security incident or cyberattack”, adding: “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed”.

In a statement, Microsoft said a resolution for Windows devices was “forthcoming”.

It said: “We are aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third party software platform. We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming.”