Users of the messaging app WhatsApp have faced widespread outage this morning as messages are not sending.

Reports on outage detector Down Detector reached a whopping 70,000 reports shortly after issues began around 8am.

Why is WhatsApp temporarily unavailable?

Users have been faced with messages not sending, the app not connecting and messages staying with just one tick instead of two.

WhatsApp has confirmed it is aware of the issue and is working to fix the problem.

In a statement, a WhatsApp spokesperson said: “We’re aware that some people are currently having trouble sending messages and we’re working to restore WhatsApp for everyone as quickly as possible.”

Thousands have taken to social media to complain that they are unable to send or receive messages on the popular Meta-owned platform.

Users shared complaints over similar issues as well as posting various memes on Twitter.

One user wrote: "I'm not the only one who opened Twitter to check if WhatsApp was down then.”

When will WhatsApp start working again?

WhatsApp has not issued a time frame for the app to be back up and running, however, it has stressed it is being worked on “as quickly as possible”.

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the UK and around the world and is estimated to have more than two billion active users globally.