Not lovin' it! Furious McDonald's customers take to social media after IT outage left them unable to order food

Furious McDonald's customers have taken to social media to express their frustration after an IT outage left them unable to order food.

The worldwide issue began early on Friday morning, but within only a few hours it had Brits complaining online.

One user posted on Twitter: 'You have ruined my morning McClowns. I have been eating here daily and I was denied my McMuffin due to your rubbish system being down.

'I thought you had discontinued Roland McDonald's persona years ago.'

Just before 12pm, around six hours after the outage was first reported, McDonald's confirmed that the problem had been resolved.   

The company also issued an apology to it customers for the error which led to restaurants being forced to close all over the country. It has said the glitch was not related to cyber-security.

While the outage was taking place, dozens of social media users expressed disappointment that the company 'couldn't even serve a latte this morning'.

Another person commented their rage at the situation: 'Sooooo, for the first time in ages I'm gagging for a nice McMuffin... order online, drive to the McD's and... you've got a country-wide failure? 

'How about you lock the app then until it's sorted instead of allowing people to order? Just a thought?'

A system used to monitor IT problems for businesses, Downdetector, noted a spike in issues with the McDonald's UK app from around 5am on Friday.

In 2018 McDonald's said on average the company serves 3.5 million customers per day in the UK.

Another user took to social media to question why McDonald's could not continue to take orders down with pen and paper following the digital shutdown.

They moaned they 'had not had their McBreakfast today' due to the failure.

Some social media users began to compare the McDonald's five hour closure to the infamous KFC chicken shortage of 2018. The shortage led to the viral moment when one customer irately procralimed she 'had to go to Burger King'. 

McDonald's UK app noticied a spike in problems from around 5am on Friday

Social media users began to compare the closure to the KFC shortage of 2018

The firm's rival Burger King seemed to be enjoying the carnage with a cheeky tweet about not loving information technology or I.T.

However one company which seemed to be enjoying the carnage was rival company Burger King - who cheekily tweeted 'Not loving I.T.' in a reference to information technology. 

However it is thought not all stores were affected by the outage and a small number continued to operate throughout the impacted countries.

A McDonald's spokeswoman said: 'We are aware of a technology outage which impacted our restaurants.

'The issue has now been resolved in the UK and Ireland. We thank customers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

'The issue is not related to a cybersecurity event.'

It is understood that McDonald's sites in some other countries are still being disrupted by the outage.

McDonald's customers were unable to order food in its restaurants due to an IT outage (stock image)

In 2018 McDonald's said on average the company serves 3.5 million customers per day in the UK

The issue has been reported across the world, including in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Media organisations in China and Sweden published similar problems, and social media users complained about the same issue in Germany and Austria. 

In Japan, the company apologised to customers on social media and said they may need to 'wait a while' for problems to be resolved. 

McDonald's in Japan, which has around 3,000 stores in the country, said: 'There is currently a system failure. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and ask that you please wait for a while until the service is restored.' 

A McDonald's Australia spokesman said it was 'aware of a technology outage' currently impacting stores across the country.

One manager in the country wrote on Reddit his store continued accepting orders by writing them down on paper, while other locations decided to close.

The IT outage comes after McDonald's UK and Ireland announced it will be undergoing its most significant menu change in decades, as the chain celebrates its 50th anniversary.

In the huge shake-up, the restaurant will be making recipe changes to its beloved beef burgers, promising they will be 'better than ever before'.

Fan favourites that will see changes include the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, and of course the classic Cheeseburger variations including the double and triple.

The shake-up comes 50 years after the first set of golden arches appeared on a UK high street in 1974. 

The restaurant in Woolwich was the first McDonald's in the UK and offered customers 'The United Tastes of America'.

And the recipe switch-up is not the only big change - the news comes just after McDonald's launched a new personalised 'inclusive' uniform that allows staff to wear the clothes 'they feel most comfortable in'.