It could be a very frustrating weekend for millions of homes trying to tune into Strictly Come Dancing or the 1% club this weekend. It appears the British weather is wreaking havoc with TV screens, and it’s not an issue that will be fixed quickly. Freeview has confirmed that a band of high pressure is currently hovering over our heads, and that’s bad news for the signal that beams content into living rooms.
Explaining more, Freeview said: “Viewers across the UK could see some disruption to their TV reception from Friday the 10th to Wed the 15th of October 2025. This is due to high pressure which could disrupt the TV signals which Freeview uses.”
So why does this happen?
High pressure and over-the-air telly signals simply don’t mix, and that means homes can face annoying interference.
“High pressure can cause two potential problems,” the BBC explains.
“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.”
Of course, it’s highly irritating for viewers, and it will be especially bad this time around with the high pressure hanging about until next week. However, there is another alert from Freeview with the team telling homes to leave their TVs alone.
“You are advised not to retune your TV during this time – reception will be restored once the high pressure passes,” Freeview said.
Adjusting the settings will only waste time and won’t actually resolve the problem.
Luckily, there are ways to avoid these issues. Firstly, if you have an internet-connected telly with Freeview Play installed, you can simply switch to this online service rather than using the aerial.
Next, there is now a new alternative. Freely, which is owned by the same team behind Freeview and Freesat, 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.
You can find out more about Freely here.
