If you have Freeview in your home, you may struggle to watch TV this weekend.
It might be another glorious weekend for sun worshippers, but it seems the current UK climate isn’t helping those wanting to watch TV. In fact, some homes could find they are stuck with a bad signal and broken image on their screens for the next two days.
The reason for the gremlins is a band of high pressure which is hovering over the skies of Britain. Although that means many are enjoying some stunning weather, it can also lead to transmission issues.
Explaining more, the BBC said: “High pressure can cause two potential problems.
“The first is that you receive a weaker signal, as the signal from your local transmitter is lifted higher into the sky. The second is that the signal from a distant transmitter interferes with your reception.”
The Freeview TV gremlins began late last week and it’s been confirmed they will continue right through until Monday, May 19.
“Freeview viewers across the UK could see some disruption to their TV reception from Thursday the 15th to Monday the 19th May 2025,” Freeview announced in an update on its service page.
“This is due to high pressure which could disrupt the TV signals which Freeview uses.:
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It’s clearly highly irritating for anyone wanting to view some Sunday entertainment but it’s vital Freeview users don’t start tinkering with their TVs as this is a total waste of time and could do more harm than good.
“You are advised not to retune your TV during this time – reception will be restored once the high pressure passes,” Freeview confirmed.
If you are affected by the signal issues there are ways around it.
Firstly, if you have a smart telly with Freeview Play installed, you can simply switch to this internet service – which includes BBC iPlayer and ITVX – rather than using the aerial.
Next, there is Freely. This is owned by the same team behind Freeview and Freesat, and uses broadband to beam content to tellies rather than a standard over-the-air signal.
That means it isn’t affected by the weather and will continue to show pin-sharp content during storms and high pressure events. Freely offers access to over 40 channels with both live and on-demand content available to view.
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You can even pause live telly, see what’s on now and next via the telly guide and get recommendations for new things to watch.
At its launch last year, Freely’s features, channels and compatible TVs were limited. However, this platform is improving all the time. In fact, it’s just had a major update which has added some useful extras, including a backwards TV guide and easier ways to keep things to watch at a later date.