Thousands of WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger users are facing difficulties this afternoon with reports the popular messaging app is down as users are unable to send messages

WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger has gone down for thousands with people struggling to connect or send messages. The communication platform is showing major issues on DownDetector with a huge spike in errors and outages for users across the UK. There has been 68,000 reports of issues recently.

WhatsApp has hit a user criterion set out in landmark EU tech rules, the unit owned by Meta Platforms said, meaning it is required to do more to tackle online illegal and harmful content.