Monday: 
A problem was reported on this forum by Firejack Monday afternoon at 16:38
I experienced the same issue and eventually also logged a ticket [#GNV-98907-340]
Feedback from Tech Support was that the server was under DDOS attack and services had to be shut down
In this forum eUKhost acknowledged an issue with the primary HDD on Merlin and that it is scheduled for repair end of this week
Got notification from Tech Support that server was up again at 20:03
Wednesday: 
Eidolon reported what he phrased: "Merlin's on a hissy fit" at 21:11
Same issue for me - logged a ticket as well [#DEQ-77484-781]
I suggested eUKHost communicate this to people via the Network Status thread - no result
I even created and posted a notice to the Network Status thread myself. All it required was a moderator approval - no result
Servers were finally back up around midnight
Thursday:
At 10:00 it was "hissy-fit" time again - ticket logged [#DRV-33966-133]
Great News!! At 10:53 we finally got a public notice up on the Network Status thread that "Merlin is down"
The rest is pretty well documented in this thread....
Current:
Server seems to be up & running OK although one disk is a bit low on available capacity... lights flickering... anybody take notice?
I also setup my POP account to leave messages on the server for 10 days before deleting. I therefore also got bombed with a load of mails after the restore which I honestly do not mind about but the interesting thing was that the last mail I received in duplicate was for Wednesday at 18:50.
I guess I was hoping that somehow incoming mails would not be lost but I already had several calls today from people who simply could not send mail to my account although I did receive several mails from other people during the day - probably at intervals when the server was running ok. Personally I feel the professional image of my business is on the line if my business associates cannot even send me email.
And finally, enough ranting. Thanks to everybody who has been battling this out to the end! I am still a bit sour and my level of confidence took a serious knock. I will monitor the situation with Merlin over the weekend to test my expectations... and of course to read the long-anticipated official explanation of events that I am sure will follow soon.
PS: All times are most likely on GMT+1