While accessing my account, I am presented with an error message, “We can’t connect to Outlook at the moment. Please try again later”.

Over the last couple of weeks my Hotmail access frequently fails mid session and I'm presented with the message "We can't connect to Outlook at the moment. Please try again later". There are no reported service interruptions and all other web access remains normal. Any idea what's happening?

Original title:

Hotmail access frequently fails mid session