The postal service admitted that it was suffering issues with deliveries yesterday. “Royal Mail is experiencing severe service disruption to our international export services following a cyber incident,” it said.

The statement went on to explain that it is currently “unable to despatch items to overseas destinations” and that the company recommends that customers “hold any export mail items while we work to resolve the issue, items that have already been despatched may be subject to delays.”

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre announced its involvement yesterday, saying: “We are aware of an incident affecting Royal Mail Group Ltd and are working with the company, alongside the National Crime Agency, to fully understand the impact.”