INSTAGRAM users were reporting issues with the social media site on Thursday evening

People were left unable to navigate the site, refresh their feed or even see more than a few posts at a time.

According to Down Detector, issues started just after 5.20 pm with people complaining that they couldn't get the app or website to load.

Problems with the social media site were recorded across the UK on Down Detector including London, Birmingham and Manchester.

What's up with Instagram?

Of the problems reported, 59% related to issues with the app while 39% related to problems with the feed.

A further 9% of problems were linked to Instagram's website.

According to the heat map, the worst affected areas are Birmingham and London.

You can use the heat map on Down Detector to see if you are in one of the worst affected areas via the Down Detector website.

Downdetector only reports an incident when the number of problem reports is significantly higher than the typical volume for that time of day.

You can visit the Downdetector Methodology to learn more about how it detected problems.

Users took to Twitter to express their frustration about the photo sharing app being down. 

One person tweeted:" I don’t know what is going on with Instagram. When I scroll, it only shows a few posts & then it stops. Is this happening to anyone else?"

While a second added: " the way i come to twitter to search “instagram down” every two weeks."

With two crying emojis, one user wrote: "Is instagram down? I'm only seeing pics from weeks ago."