Complete List of Websites Only Available in UK (How to Unblock Them)
The UK entertainment scene is simply wonderful. You have tons of memorable, popular, and fun to watch shows like “EastEnders,”“Fawlty Towers,”“The Office,” and “Blue Peter.” Unfortunately, you can only enjoy most of that content on websites only available in UK.
If you are outside the country, tough luck – that seems to be the way content providers approach this topic.
Well, no longer. We’ll show you a list of UK-only websites, discuss why you can’t access them, and offer you easy ways to unblock them.
Why Are There UK-Only Websites?
Simply put, some websites only work in the UK because the website owners use geo-restrictions to filter website visitors based on their geo-location. So, if you try to watch a video on a platform like BBC iPlayer or BT Sport from Germany, you’ll get a message telling you the video isn’t available in your country.
Annoying, right?
Well, there’s more – UK websites can see your real geo-location because they analyze your IP address whenever you send connection requests their way. And your IP address contains data that can leak info such as what country you’re in, what city you live in, what your ZIP code is, who your ISP is, and so on.
Besides that, many websites can also spot your geo-location by checking your DNS address and specific DNS entries that contain info linked to your geographical position.
Why Do Content Providers in the UK Use Geo-Blocks?
There are no exact sources talking about this, but we can speculate that many UK content providers don’t want to make their content available worldwide because it would cost them too much. After all, they’d need to buy licensing rights in every single country that way. Alongside taxes in each country, legal fees, and the costs of opening and managing multiple branches, the total cost would be very high.
Besides that, you should know that content providers don’t own all the content they offer on their websites. Because of that, they need to comply with the copyright holders’ requests about geo-blocking the content. Given how expensive it is to broadcast the content worldwide, that’s hardly a surprise.
Lastly, there’s also the fact that UK citizens have to pay a TV license tax. The money from those taxes mostly funds BBC programming. So, content providers who offer BBC content (which is a majority of UK entertainment) have to geo-block it to comply with the law. Also, many content providers in the UK only get money from UK advertisers, so it’s not economically viable for them to expand worldwide.
True, there has been talk about banning geo-blocking in the UK, but that only applied to eCommerce businesses, not content providers. Plus, that idea came from an EU regulation, which will only apply in the UK for as long as the government doesn’t repel the Act of Parliament that made the UK part of the EU
“What If I Already Have Access to Websites Only Available in UK?”
Well, that’s great news for you since you don’t need to worry about geo-restrictions keeping you from your favorite shows and movies when you want to relax at home.
However, what happens when you go on vacation abroad? Or when you have to go on a business trip outside the country, or work abroad for a few months? Or if you decide to move to your house in Spain for the summer?
If you do any of the above, you won’t get to enjoy the kind of unrestricted access you normally have in the UK anymore.
Sure, some platforms have taken a more user-friendly approach in such situations. For example, NOW TV and Sky now let you watch and stream their content outside the UK.
However, there is a catch – you have a limit on how long you can do that.
With NOW TV, you can only watch shows and movies outside the UK for up to 30 days at a time. Sky offers you an extra week (so 37 days), but that’s not much of an improvement. Also, you can only watch content in EU countries. If you’re going to non-EU countries in Europe (like Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, or Liechtenstein) or places in Asia, America, or Africa, you won’t get any access to your favorite shows and movies.
What’s more, BBC iPlayer still doesn’t allow you to view its content in any country other than the UK. You can download all the shows and movies you want while you’re in the UK to watch when you’re abroad, but that’s not very convenient – especially if you’ll be away for a long period.
Oh, and there’s another thing you should consider – while you might have access to UK entertainment at home, you might not be able to enjoy it at school or work. Why? Because the network admins might block platforms like BBC iPlayer, Absolute Radio, or ITV Player to make sure you don’t “slack off.” Yes, even during your breaks.
So, as you can see, even if you live in the UK, you’re still not out of the woods yet.
Here Are Some Examples of UK-Only Websites
We’ve already mentioned a few websites above, but let’s dig deeper.
ITV Player is another great example of amazing UK entertainment that you can’t enjoy if you’re outside the country. People who live in the UK get some streaming privileges abroad if they are ITV Hub+ subscribers, but the limits don’t really make them worthwhile.
Absolute Radio is a platform where you can listen to the latest and greatest hits – as long as you’re in the UK, of course. If you try to listen to any tracks abroad, you’ll only get this message:
And there’s also STV Player – an easy-to-use video on demand platform that lets you watch popular shows (like “Coronation Street” and “Emmerdale”) for free. Unfortunately, not only is the service not available outside the UK – it’s not even available outside of Scotland.
Those are just some examples, though. Going through all the websites would take way too long. So, instead of doing that, we decided to put together a comprehensive list of websites only available in UK below.
The Full List of Websites Only Available in UK
Whether you are a huge lover of UK entertainment, or just have an interest in seeing which websites you can’t access outside the UK, this list will offer you a clear overview of the situation:
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Here’s How to Easily Unblock UK-Only Websites
Since you can’t access UK websites because they know what your real geo-location is, it’s obvious you need a way to hide it.
That might sound difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. You’ve actually got three decent ways to unblock UK-only websites:
1. Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A VPN is an online service that can hide your real IP address by replacing it with the address of the VPN server you connect to. So, you’d just need to connect to a UK-based VPN server, and you’ll be all set. Like a proxy server, a VPN also lets you bypass firewall restrictions, not just geo-restrictions.
Besides that, a VPN also encrypts your online traffic. It keeps you safe from cybercriminals, government surveillance, and ISP monitoring (so you don’t need to worry about bandwidth throttling).
The only thing you might not like is the fact that your online speeds can be a bit slower sometimes. Why? Well, there are many factors that affect VPN speed, and encryption has a large part to play. Essentially, the stronger the encryption, the more it takes its toll on your speeds.
Still, it’s worth mentioning that you might not notice the drop in speeds at all if you have a decent CPU and reliable ISP speeds.
2. Use a Smart DNS Service
A Smart DNS is an online service that replaces your ISP-assigned DNS address with a different one that doesn’t contain any data which could reveal your real geo-location.
On top of that, the service re-routes your connection through a proxy server in the UK. Also, a Smart DNS intercepts your connection requests to a website, and replaces any information that can leak your geo-location with data that points to a location in the UK.
One thing many people like about Smart DNS services is the lack of encryption. While that does mean the service doesn’t secure your online traffic, it also means you get to enjoy your original ISP speeds while watching UK entertainment.
3. Use a Proxy Server
A proxy server acts as an intermediate between you and the websites you want to access. Basically, you send connection requests to a specific website, and the proxy server intercepts and forwards them on your behalf. Since it does that, it ensures your IP address can’t be seen. That helps you bypass both geo-blocks and firewalls.
Plus, proxy servers have a nice feature called “local cache.” Simply put, the server will archive web pages on its local cache. If you request a web page archived on the server’s cache, it will retrieve it for you without having to forward your requests to the Internet, ensuring faster load times.
The only problem is that many proxy servers tend to be very overcrowded, so you don’t get decent speeds and bandwidth. The solution to that is using a VPN provider’s servers as proxies since they are much more reliable.
Need an All-in-One Service to Unblock UK-Only Websites?
No problem – CactusVPN has got you covered. We offer a VPN solution that can give you quick access to tons of websites only available in UK.
With CactusVPN, you can choose one of four high-speed VPN servers located in London, which all come with unlimited bandwidth. And our apps work on the most popular platforms, so you can watch the shows and movies you want anywhere.
And if you ever get bored of UK-only websites, you can use our other VPN servers to unblock content from other parts of the world.
Besides a reliable VPN service, we also provide a user-friendly Smart DNS service which can instantly unblock 40+ UK-only websites for you. On top of that, you can also use our Smart DNS to unblock 300+ websites.
And every single one of our VPN servers doubles as a proxy server. You can use them free of charge.
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And once you do become a CactusVPN customer, we’ll still have your back with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
“What About Tor?”
Tor is an anonymity network, so it also hides your IP address and – therefore – your geo-location. So, you could use it to unblock UK-only websites too.
However, if you were planning on watching UK entertainment on multiple devices and browsers, that’s not going to work. Tor doesn’t work on iOS, for example, and it mostly works well on the Tor Browser only.
Besides that problem, there are many others:
- Governments can actually block the whole Tor network if they want – China and Turkey have already done it before. What’s more, even website operators tend to block traffic that’s coming from the Tor network.
- Tor connections are not very stable since volunteers run many relays. The service is free, after all. So, connections can go down randomly, leaving you with no access to your favorite websites.
- Right now, there are nearly three million Tor users, and only a little over 6,000 relays. That means there isn’t really enough bandwidth for everyone, so you are likely to end up dealing with slow speeds. The fact that your traffic is bounced and encrypted between multiple relays can also lower your connection speeds.
- Tor has leaked user IP addresses in the past. Not only is that a huge privacy concern, but if it ever happens again, you’ll be left with no access to your favorite UK website since it will suddenly be able to see your geo-location.
The Bottom Line
UK entertainment is definitely amazing – almost on par with US shows and movies. It’s just a shame most websites only work in the UK. Some platforms allow you to watch content outside the country – but only for a limited period, and only if you already live in the UK.
Why does that happen? Because UK content providers use geo-restrictions to respect copyright holders’ rights, save money on licensing fees, and comply with British law.
Luckily, there are ways to bypass those restrictions. Just use a proxy server, a Smart DNS service, or a VPN. Or, better yet, use a provider that offers access to all those services at once.
