Three named storms hit in six days, prompting Openreach to set up a Storm Response Unit

Openreach, the company that runs most of the UK's phone and broadband network, has set up a Storm Response Unit (SRU) following the three named storms that struck in six days in February 2022. The company describes the unit on its extreme weather help page, saying it develops new processes to respond to severe weather "in an even quicker and safer way than before"¹.

The same page sets the storms in a wider context. It says seven consecutive named storms hit the UK in a three-month period during the winter of 21/22, with Storm Eunice alone causing loss of service for over 19,000 customers¹. Openreach says its engineers restored service within days, and that it has 25,000 field engineers working around the clock across the UK¹. It also says it replaced 750 poles damaged by bad weather in the previous year, and that hundreds of poles need replacing every year because of bad weather¹.

The company says the SRU's work includes preparing specialist winter kit for thousands of engineers across the UK, testing whether the network can be rerouted in areas that have proved particularly vulnerable to storms, and reviewing how it shares news and information about disruption with affected communities¹.

Openreach says its network is used by more than 690 service providers supplying broadband, TV and telephone services to over 28 million homes and businesses across the UK¹. It says its Full Fibre network now reaches more than 10 million homes and businesses, against a plan to reach 25 million by the end of 2026, and that fibre cables are more resistant to severe weather than copper because they are not made of metal and are resistant to flood damage¹.

Why it matters for households

The SRU affects how quickly repairs are organised after storms, but households do not deal with Openreach directly. The company says that if broadband or phone service is affected by extreme weather, customers should contact their service provider, the company they pay their bill to, which will tell Openreach about any network issue¹. It also says faults should always be reported to the service provider so the company knows there is a problem¹.

Openreach advises households to tell their phone or broadband provider if they or a family member are vulnerable, so they can be prioritised wherever possible during repair work, and points to Ofcom guidance on this¹. It advises people to make sure mobile phones and any spare battery packs are fully charged if extreme weather is approaching¹. It says trees or branches hitting cables and equipment can cause outages, and that these can be reported to Openreach online, using a What3Words location to pinpoint the damage¹. On power, the company says it has backup plans to keep its network running during local power cuts, but that households may find it hard to connect if their own power is disrupted¹.

What happens next

No further dated steps have been reported. Openreach says it constantly assesses its responses to damage caused by severe weather and looks for ways to improve¹. Households can read more on how phone and broadband networks respond to storms and outages, on the storms and snow hub, on how the Met Office chooses storm names, and on staying informed during incidents.