Skype is suffering from severe problems worldwide, with many reporting that their PC clients are crashing out completely. Others state that they can't log on, and the Skype online webpages are continually showing up with "Service Unavailable" holding pages.

Even the Pocket-lint staffers who use the PC version of Skype are having trouble communicating with their colleagues at present, although the service does seem to run fine using the iPhone and iPad clients. We are also hearing that it is working on Apple Macs and Android handsets.

The official Twitter feed for the company, @Skype, explains that it acknowledges that there's problem and that it's currently investigating the issue: "Some of you may have problems signing in to Skype and making calls," it says. "We’re investigating and hope to have more details to share soon."

Skype's download servers are also down at present.

There's no indication on when they come back up.

UPDATE: While it's still working on the problem, and prior to reissued software which it claims will be ready in the next few hours, Skype has posted a manual fix for Windows, Mac and Linux users on its blog site:

Windows

- Click Start, type run and press Enter. (On Windows XP: Click Start and then Run.)

- Type the following and click OK: %appdata%skype

- Locate and delete the file shared.xml.

- If you cannot find this file:

Click Start, type run and press Enter. (On Windows XP: Click Start and then Run.)

Type the following and click OK: control folders

In the View tab, ensure that Show hidden files and folders is enabled.

Repeat normal steps above.

- Restart Skype.

Mac

- Open Finder and locate the following folder: ~/Library/Application Support/Skype

- Delete the file shared.xml.

- Restart Skype.

Please note that the ~ sign means your home folder. You can find your home folder by opening Finder and selecting Go > Home from the menu bar or pressing Command (Apple), Shift and H keys at the same time.

Linux

- Go to the following folder: /home/YourLinuxUserName/.Skype

- Delete the file shared.xml.

- Restart Skype.

Remember: The Skype folder is a hidden folder - please check Show hidden files in your file browser to view and access it.

Are you affected by the Skype black out? Let us know in the comments below...