THE Bilsdale transmitter went down after what Arqiva are calling “powerful effects of Storm Barra” leaving many without TV signal – here’s what we know so far.

Reports came in that Bilsdale transmitter had gone down at 1:49pm leaving many people without signal.

Signal was lost in The Northern Echo building minutes before and many residents took to twitter to report they had also lost signal.

Read more: Reports that new Bilsdale transmitter gone down causing many to lose TV signal

Residents in the North East and Yorkshire took to social media to say they had lost TV signal due to the incident.

One user said: "Lost the TV signal from Bilsdale Quarry. Has the temporary mast blown over?" with one user replying: "We have just lost tv signal and we are in the Yorkshire dales! Thought it was just us"

Another user on Twitter said the TV signal had been lost as far as York.

The Northern Echo has contacted Arqiva for a comment on the situation.

One person added on Twitter: "The 80m temporary mast at Bilsdale has blown down. So no Freeview. We did tell them it gets windy up there."

Read more: Further misery expected as Storm Barra to hit North East with snow and wind today

At 2:26pm, Freeview provided an update via Twitter that Arqiva had reported that there was no service on many channels for those receiving signal from Bilsdale transmitter.

The broadcaster said that Arqiva was “investigating” the incident.

A statement from Arqiva said that there was a “brief outage” and engineers have now restored services.

A spokesperson for Arqiva said: “We are aware of a brief outage at the temporary  Bilsdale Mast during the very powerful effects of Storm Barra; engineers have now (2.50pm) restored the service. 

Read more: Freeview gives update as Bilsdale transmitter goes down leaving people without TV signal

“We ask that viewers do not retune their TVs and apologise for any inconvenience.”

Matt Vickers, MP for Stockton South, said he "will be monitering the situation closely."

*UPDATE* Arqiva have provided an update on the cause of the loss of service.

A spokesperson for the infrastructure company said: "Bad weather conditions caused by Storm Barra meant that ice formed quickly on the temporary Bilsdale Mast earlier this afternoon.

"As a result, a safety measure to protect antennae on the temporary mast was tripped, which then caused a temporary loss of service.

"The outage lasted for 53 minutes before an engineer at the site was able to fix the issue and restore services.

“With high winds and sleet on the moor top our team of engineers remain vigilant near the site and is monitoring the situation closely.

"We ask that viewers do not retune their TVs and apologise for any disruption caused.”

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