National Lottery: UK outage, is app down, why can't I sign in - ticket sales, prize claims halted for upgrade
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A once-in-a-generation tech upgrade means weekend players face disruption 🎯
- National Lottery services have been paused from 11pm Saturday to late Monday morning (August 4)
- There will be no draw ticket sales or prize claims in-store or online during the outage
- The website and app are also offline, though Scratchcards and YouTube results still available
- The upgrade is part of major tech switchover to modernise 15-year-old systems
If you were planning to grab a lucky Lotto ticket or check a recent win this weekend, you’re out of luck – at least for now.
The National Lottery has hit pause across all its major services in what’s being called the biggest technical upgrade in its 31-year history.
From 11pm on Saturday night (following the Lotto and Thunderball draws) until late Monday morning (August 4), all draw game sales and prize claims – both in-store and online – will be suspended.
This includes the National Lottery website and app, which will be inaccessible during the downtime.
What’s been paused?
You can still buy scratch cards in shops, and Saturday draw results are viewable on the National Lottery’s YouTube channel.
But draw ticket sales have been paused from 11pm Saturday (August 2) until Monday morning - prize claims are not possible in-store or online during the pause.
You also won’t be able to log into your online National Lottery account.
Why is this happening?
The outage is part of a long-planned technology switchover by Allwyn, the Czech-based operator that took over the National Lottery licence from Camelot in February 2024.
The systems powering the Lottery – including thousands of shop terminals – date back to 2009, “before iPads, Uber, and Instagram”, as Allwyn put it.
The upgrade will bring those systems into the modern age, aiming to improve game offerings and user experience.
But be warned: Allwyn said a “small proportion” of shop terminals might be slower to come back online, depending on how smoothly the update goes.
Once the upgrade is complete, players can expect a smoother, more modern playing experience and new games (though some have been delayed until later in the licence).
There will also be a bigger focus on boosting contributions to Good Causes - the wide range of charitable, community, and public-benefit projects that receive funding from National Lottery profits – with ambitions to double weekly funding from £30m to £60m.
Allwyn’s UK chief executive Andria Vidler called the switchover a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to refresh the Lottery and “restore its magic” for players.
But the transition hasn’t been entirely smooth. After winning the 10-year licence, Allwyn was blocked from rolling out its new tech immediately due to a legal challenge by the outgoing supplier, International Games Technology (IGT).
That case was later dropped, but it caused delays – including the launch of new draw-based games originally planned for 2024.
How to increase your chances of winning the lottery
Let’s be honest: hitting the jackpot isn’t easy. The odds are slim, but there are ways to improve your chances and spend less money while pursuing that life-changing prize.
Lottery syndicates have been popular for as long as the draws themselves - and for good reason. By pooling resources with others, you can boost your odds of winning.
Sure, you’ll have to share the prize, but when it’s a £100 million EuroMillions jackpot, does that really matter?
This is the clever ethos behind Lotto Social, an online syndicate anyone can join in. Not everyone will have a syndicate at work, or in a pub, or a sports club, so this opens the opportunities up to the wider public.
With its simple online platform, Lotto Social unlocks far more opportunities for wins, whether they are big wins or small wins, by increasing the number of entries you're getting.
It’s completely free to join, so you're in control of how much you're spending, and you choose the syndicates you join, and the prizes you're hoping for. You can even opt in to international lotteries to increase your chances of a win even further.
Syndicates give you more lines, and more chances to win a prize
Conventional syndicates might be set up among work colleagues, for example, but you can also find them online
Lotto Social is one of the UK’s leading online lottery syndicates, covering all the major draws
Click here to sign up, decide how you want to play and how much you want to spend
Sit back and wait to see if you’ve won after each draw takes place
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