Netflix is suffering an outage affecting users in the US, Canada and Latin America [Now fixed]

Netflix suffered a significant outage last Christmas — on account of problems with Amazon Web Services — and, though it was fully operational on Christmas Day 2013, the service is currently suffering issues that are affecting streaming for users in the US and Latin America today.

Update: The service is back to usual, Netflix says — the outage lasted around an hour.

The company took to Twitter to confirm it is working to fix the problems, which appear to have started around 7pm PST (25 minutes ago at time of writing):

To our customers in the US, CA, and Latin America: we’re aware of streaming issues on all devices & working to resolve the problem ASAP.

— Netflix CS (@Netflixhelps) December 27, 2013

Connecting from laptops, multiple TNW staff were met with the error message below:

We’re not alone. Many other customers expressed frustration at their inability to stream shows this Boxing Day — a day that is surely tailor-made for binge-watching movies and TV series.

BREAKING: @Netflix is down. I repeat – @Netflix is down. This is not a drill. We are at Defcon 4, people!

— W. Smart (@_WhipSmart_) December 27, 2013

And netflix is down.

— Olivia ॐ (@Livi_booMW) December 27, 2013

Netflix is down….now what am I supposed to do with my life? #misery

— Sara (@sellingrod14) December 27, 2013

We’ve contacted Netflix for further information, and will post more details as we have them. In the meantime, we recommend keeping a close eye on @Netflixhelps, which provides updates on service outages via Twitter.

Update: A Netflix spokesperson tells us:

There was a brief outage that impacted streaming on most devices in part of the US, Latin America and Canada. All systems are up and running now though.

While you’re waiting, why not read: What Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has learned in his business career

Headline image via Jenny Cestnik / Flickr