Sky and O2 mobile networks down in some parts of UK due to Storm Ali

SKY and O2 mobile customers across the UK may be unable to use their handsets after a power outage caused by Storm Ali.

Telecoms giant Sky said this morning that customers in parts of Northern Ireland, East Central Scotland and North East England may be affected.

O2 said it's also customers in Northern Ireland and Scotland who may be experiencing outages.

Sky piggybacks on O2's network - as does GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile, which means these customers may also be affected.

Sky tweeted this morning: "We're aware that Sky Mobile customers in some parts of Northern Ireland, East Central Scotland and North East England may be unable to use their services.

"Storm Ali has caused power outages across these areas and has affected several towers. Updates to follow."

But it's since said the power outages in Northern Ireland, East Central Scotland and North East England have been resolved, while issues in Cumnock, New Cumnock and Dalmellington in Scotland are ongoing.

Sky also suggests that TV customers may be affected, as its social media channel has advised customers having problems with their TV signal after the storm to check out its .

A Sky spokesperson said: “Strong winds resulting from Storm Ali caused temporary interruptions to a number of major mobile service providers yesterday, including Sky Mobile.

"Our team worked tirelessly throughout the night to ensure that we could restore a full service and we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience this disruption has caused customers.”

O2 customers may also be affected. O2 said some of its masts went down yesterday due to power outages caused by the storm in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The provider added that the majority of masts are now back in full service with just a handful remaining without power, which O2 is working to fix.

The Sun has asked both O2 and Sky for more information as well as details on how many customers are affected.

Telecoms website ISP Preview reports that Sky has 12.9million customers in total, while O2 says it has more than 23million users in the UK - so the outages could impact a large number of people.

Sky customers in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have to taken to social media to complain that their services, including broadband and TV, are not working properly.

Here are some of the tweets we've seen:

The Sun has contacted all of the major mobile and TV networks to ask if they're experiencing similar problems.

Both Virgin Media, Virgin Mobile, and Vodafone told us that their networks and cables are up and running and providing a normal service.

BT and EE refused to say if they'd experienced any problems but it seems EE mobile customers may be experiencing outages based on customer tweets we've seen.

Some Three mobile users have also complained of outages. We're awaiting a response from Three.

An "Amber" weather warning has been issued by the Met Office as a result of Storm Ali.

It calls for people to take immediate action to protect themselves against 102mph gales that pose a threat to life.

But it's not just telecoms chaos  that's been caused by Storm Ali - uprooted trees and overturned lorries are gridlocking Britain's road and railways.

Here's where there have been road closures, rail, flight and ferry disruptions.

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