It looks set to be a glorious weekend with parts of the UK seeing temperatures climb well over 20 degrees. Although that’s great news for the topping up the tan it’s not so good for anyone using Freeview. The latest band of high pressure that’s hovering about British skies looks set to wreak havoc with the signal that Freeview uses to beam content to homes.

As the BBC explains, “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 latest weather conditions are expected to persist until Monday, and Freeview is issuing important advice for all users to follow over the weekend.

“Freeview viewers across parts of the UK could see some disruption to their TV reception from Friday the 24th to Sunday the 26th of April 2026,” Freeview confirmed in blog post.

“This is due to high pressure which could disrupt the TV signals which Freeview uses. You are advised not to retune your TV during this time, reception will be restored once the high pressure passes.”

This weather pattern affects Freeview at different times throughout the year and if you find it annoying there are some things you can do.

Firstly, if you have a modern telly, you can simply switch to the Freeview Play online service rather than using the aerial.

“If you have an internet-connected Freeview Play TV, or one that has channel players available, you will still be able to watch live and on-demand content from the likes of BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 or 5,” Freeview explained.

Alternatively, you can watch Freeview via the dedicated mobile app which is available to download for free from your app store.

There is also another 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 50 channels with both live and on-demand content available to view.

Users can even pause live TV, get content recommendations and see what’s on now and next via the interactive TV guide.

Want to know more. Read full details about Freely here