For the second time in as many months, TV viewers in parts of the UK may be impacted by high pressure weather conditions.
The BBC and Freeview have issued a warning to viewers that Freeview reception may be degraded in the coming days due to high pressure weather conditions.
Tropospheric ducting under the high pressure system may occur this week. This may bend TV signals beyond the usual line of sight from transmitter masts, causing distant signals to inferfere with local signals. For viewers, this in turn means picture and sound dropouts.
The issue may affect users of Freeview, Freely and YouView TVs and boxes.
The issue tends to be worst in coastal and southern parts of the UK, where incoming interference is more likely. Freeview TV services have been compressed on fewer frequencies to make way for new 4G and 5G networks, meaning remaining frequencies are reused more often across the UK and neighbouring countries, making them more prone to issues during high pressure weather conditions.
It’s the second such warning issued to viewers in as many months. In December, the BBC warned viewers at Christmas about weather related TV and radio reception problems.
What to do…
Viewers are advised not to retune. Normal service will resume when atmospheric conditions return to normal.
However, viewers who frequently suffer Freeview reception problems should check to see if their aerial can be realigned to a more reliable signal source.
Alternatively, Freesat offers free-to-air access to most Freeview channels via satellite. Next-generation streaming TV platforms are a further alternative. However, full transition to streaming may require viewers to upgrade to a higher speed broadband service, if available at their location. This is due to the resulting increased demand on their broadband connection.
By: Marc Thornham