No signal after a storm: what's happened to my TV aerial?

If your TV lost its picture during or just after a storm, the wind has most likely moved or damaged something on the roof: the aerial has been turned off its transmitter, the mast or bracket has bent, or the cable has been pulled loose. Occasionally the cause is a power cut that has knocked out an amplifier, or a fault at the transmitter itself. A few quick checks from inside the house and the garden will usually tell you which, and most storm damage is a repair rather than a whole new system.

First, rule out the simple things

Before assuming the aerial is at fault, spend five minutes on these:

• Check other TVs in the house. If only one set has lost its picture, the problem is more likely the fly lead, wall socket or the TV itself than anything on the roof.
• Check the amplifier. Many homes have a distribution amplifier in the loft or behind the TV. Storms often bring power cuts, and a tripped socket or a failed power supply leaves every room without a signal. Make sure it’s switched on and its light is lit.
• Check whether neighbours have the same problem. If the whole street has lost channels, the issue may be at the transmitter. The Freeview website and BBC reception pages report known problems by postcode, so it’s worth looking there before anything else.
• Don’t keep retuning. One retune is fine. Repeated retunes with a weak signal can leave the TV with fewer channels than before, which makes the real fault harder to spot.

If the amplifier is on, your neighbours are fine and every TV in the house is affected, the problem is very likely the aerial or its cable.

What strong winds do to an aerial

An aerial is a lightweight frame on a pole, and in a gale it acts like a small sail. Here’s what we commonly find after stormy weather:

The aerial has turned on its mast

The clamps that hold an aerial to its pole can slip in a strong gust. Even a small turn can be enough to lose the signal, because a directional aerial only works well when it faces the transmitter. Across Tendring, almost every aerial points inland towards the Sudbury transmitter in Suffolk, so an onshore gale off the North Sea pushes them straight off their line. It’s one of the most common faults on our Frinton-on-Sea TV aerial repair visits.

The mast or bracket has bent

Older wall brackets and thin masts can fold over in high winds, especially if they were already rusting. From the garden you may see the pole leaning or the aerial pointing at the sky. This needs attention quickly, as a bent mast can work loose further and damage tiles, guttering or the chimney stack.

The chimney lashing has failed

Many aerials are fixed to chimneys with a wire lashing. Over time the wire stretches and corrodes, and a storm can be the final push. A loose lashing lets the whole mast rock, which is bad news for the chimney as well as the picture.

The cable has been pulled or snapped

If the aerial cable wasn’t clipped down properly, wind whips it against the wall and roof edge until it chafes through or tears out of its connector. A cable hanging loose from the eaves after a storm is a strong clue.

Elements have broken off

The rods on an aerial can snap or bend, particularly on older or lighter models. A damaged aerial may still give some channels but not others, which can look like a tuning problem.

Why coastal and exposed homes are hit harder

Homes along the Tendring coast take the brunt of winds coming in off the sea, with little to slow them down across flat, low ground. Salt air also corrodes clamps, brackets and connectors faster than inland, so fittings that would cope for years further west can fail in the first big blow of the winter. Older properties in Harwich and along the Stour estuary near Manningtree often have aerials on chimneys that have been up a long time, which makes a post-storm check particularly worthwhile.

If your picture problems come and go with wet weather rather than starting suddenly after a storm, that’s often a different fault. Our post on why the TV picture breaks up when it rains covers that.

What to look for from the ground

You can learn a lot without going near a ladder. Stand back in the garden or across the road and look for:

• An aerial pointing in a different direction from your neighbours’ aerials
• A mast that’s leaning, bent or twisted
• Cable hanging loose from the roof or flapping against the wall
• Missing or bent rods on the aerial
• A satellite dish knocked out of position, if you have one

Take a photo on your phone if you can. It helps an engineer understand the damage before they arrive.

Please don’t climb onto the roof or lean out of a window to fix it yourself. Roofs are slippery after a storm, and a loose mast can come down without warning. If something looks likely to fall, keep people away from that side of the house until it’s made safe.

Will I need a new aerial?

Not always. Many storm call-outs are a realignment and a new set of clamps, or a fresh length of cable and sealed connectors. A new aerial makes sense if the old one is badly bent, corroded or no longer suitable for the current Freeview frequencies. If the mast or bracket has failed, it’s often a good moment to fit a sturdier fixing that’s better suited to an exposed roof.

It can also be worth checking whether your home insurance covers storm damage to aerials and dishes, as some policies do. Your insurer can tell you what they need from you.

Getting your TV back

We’ll check the signal at the TV, the amplifier and on the roof to find exactly what has failed, make it safe, put it right and show you the signal readings before we leave. If your aerial needs replacing, see our TV aerial installation page, or read more about Freeview channels and equipment.

Call free on 0800 559 3914 or book on WhatsApp, and tell us your town and what you can see on the roof. You can also find local transmitter notes on your town’s page, for example TV aerial repair in Clacton-on-Sea, or see every area we cover.