TV and radio services held up to days of stormy weather across the UK with only minimal impact to broadcast services.
- Internet connectivity is still disrupted in northern and western parts of the UK affecting streamers.
- Some Freeview relay sites suffered outages over the weekend.
- Strong winds may have an impact for satellite TV users.
A small number of relay transmitters suffered from outages due to loss of power or other faults in the wake of Storm Éowyn, with small numbers of Freeview and DAB users impacted. Areas impacted included Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, where TV services were off-air for most of Friday and Betws-Y-Coed in the Conwy Valley, North Wales, where FM, DAB and Freeview were off air for hours. Smaller Scottish and Welsh relay sites made up the bulk of transmitter sites suffering from outages.
The BBC had been advising affected users to switch to BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds. In the end, power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of homes, plus additional local internet connectivity issues caused by damage to overhead telephone wires and poles meant more users were without access to the BBC’s online services than its traditional broadcast services. Users of battery-powered radios, recommended for use during extreme weather events, could in most cases continue to access essential news and information.
In the Republic of Ireland, which suffered a greater impact from Éowyn, 14 relay transmitter sites were impacted by the stormy weather, according to information from Ireland’s transmitter network operator 2rn.
Problems persist
The strong winds will have a longer impact on TV and radio reception where TV aerials and satellite dishes have been misaligned.
For those reliant on internet-based TV platforms including Sky Glass and EE TV, network operator Openreach warned at the weekend that its network had seen ‘substantial damage’, especially in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland. Most major internet service providers offer services through the Openreach network.
Mobile network operators indicated on Monday there had been a sharp loss of mobile connectivity in parts of the UK following the storm.
What to do if you’re still missing out on TV services…
- Freeview: check your aerial and cable down from the aerial. You may need specialist support from a local aerial installer.
- Sky: your dish may have become misaligned. If you see a no signal message or suffer picture break-up, please contact Sky.
- Freesat: your dish may have become misaligned. If you see a no signal message or suffer picture break-up, contact a local satellite installer.
- Sky Stream/Sky Glass/EE TV, other internet platforms: Connectivity issues to the internet may persist in some areas. This may come in the form of no connection or lower speeds/more latency than before. Check your internet router and liaise with your internet service provider (ISP). If you have limited connectivity, check your speed using a tool like speedtest.net and compare with the speed you’re paying for. You can also use a speed test to check if your connection is fast enough to support certain types of HD or UHD video streaming.
By: Marc Thornham