National Lottery outage: Is the app down? When lottery machines close and payouts stop this weekend - how long will National Lottery be down for?
The National Lottery will shut down sales and payouts this weekend as it upgrades its technology.
It’s the biggest upgrade it has had in the 31 years since it was launched. Here’s what is happening.
Is the National Lottery shutting down this weekend?
Lottery sales and payouts will be on hold for about 36 hours. Operator Allwyn says that all draw game sales and prize claims will be paused in shops across the UK from 11pm on Saturday, after the Lotto and Thunderball draws until “late Monday morning”.
The National Lottery website and app will also be down over the same period.
Allwyn advised players to buy draw tickets, check results and claim prizes before 11pm on Saturday and warned that they would not be able to log into their online accounts, buy draw tickets or claim prizes – in-store or online – until Monday.
Players will be able to check results until systems go offline and will still be able to buy Scratchcards.
They will also be able to see the latest draws and view the full results for the Saturday draws on the National Lottery’s YouTube channel.
What is happening while the National Lottery is down?
Allwyn will transfer and upgrade the National Lottery’s gaming and retail systems to new platforms.
However, it warned that a “small proportion” of in-store terminals could experience delays coming back up if certain upgrade processes are interrupted for various reasons.
The Czech-based Allwyn group – which took over the 10-year licence to run the lottery from Camelot in February last year – said the systems and in-store terminals powering The National Lottery dated back to 2009, “before iPads, Uber and Instagram”, which now needed to be modernised to deliver on “ambitious” plans for a National Lottery “fit for the future”.
What will happen after the shutdown?
Allwyn has promised new games will be introduced when the new operating technology is in place. Chief executive Andria Vidler said: “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver The National Lottery that the UK deserves. We’re making unprecedented and much-needed changes, which will move us closer to achieving our vision for The National Lottery, restoring its magic and significantly increasing its positive impact on lives across the UK.
“These major upgrades will mean short-term disruption for players and our retail partners but they will allow us to deliver on our promise to bring new, exciting games, a better player experience and our commitment to double returns to Good Causes from £30m to £60m every week by the end of the 10-year licence.”
Has Allwyn’s time in charge of the National Lottery gone smoothly?
The switchover has been beset by delays after Allwyn took over the licence, which has held back the launch of new draw-based games.
It was unable to switch to a new technology provider after agreeing to extend the contract for the existing supplier, International Games Technology (IGT).
IGT had challenged the Gambling Commission’s decision to award Allwyn the 10-year licence in court, but later dropped the legal action.
Allwyn has previously admitted that delays to the new games it had hoped to introduce in 2024 will hold back the amount of money it can give to good causes in the early part of its 10-year licence. But the group remained committed to its long-term goal to double money for good causes, despite falling short of early targets.
What time is the National Lottery draw tonight?
The Lotto draw is at 8pm and the Thunderball draw is at 8.15pm. You can watch the draws on the Lottery’s YouTube channel.