Earlier in 2025, we launched a new audio service outside the UK on BBC.com and the BBC app. This includes access to BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service English, thousands of hours of podcasts (including Global News Podcast, World of Secrets and Infinite Monkey Cage) – as well as some of the best of the BBC's journalism and storytelling, including news and history programming.
As part of the announcement, we said we planned to close BBC Sounds to audiences living outside the UK in 2025, making it available exclusively to people in the UK. Anyone who lives in the UK will still be able to use the BBC Sounds app when they go on holiday abroad. We can now confirm that BBC Sounds closed for listeners based outside the UK on 21 July 2025.
For listeners outside the UK interested in ongoing access to the BBC radio stations following the closure, we’ve added a directory below that will allow for live listening to all of our BBC radio stations. This includes the BBC’s music stations - BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, and Radio 3, 6Music, 1Xtra and Asian Network, Radio 4Xtra and 5Live, all the BBC’s stations from the UK nations, and every local radio station in England. BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service English remain available on BBC.com and the BBC app.
To install the BBC app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, head to the Apple App Store.
To install the BBC app on your Android phone or tablet, head to the Google Play Store.
Will BBC radio stations still be available outside the UK?
Following the closure of the BBC Sounds product outside the UK on 21 July 2025, we have made alternative arrangements for listeners to continue accessing BBC radio stations internationally.
Whilst the BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service English live streams remain available via bbc.com and the BBC app, other BBC stations — such as our music stations (Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 Music, 1Xtra, Asian Network), Radio 4Xtra and 5Live as well as all the BBC’s stations from the UK nations and every local radio station in England — can still be streamed live via the links below.
Where can I listen to live BBC stations outside the UK?
BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service English are available on BBC.com and the BBC app. Please use the links below for live listening access to the BBC's other radio stations from across the UK, including BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, and Radio 3, 6Music, 1Xtra and Asian Network, Radio 4Xtra and 5Live, all the BBC’s stations from the UK nations and every local radio station in England.
If you have difficulty playing these stations because the link opens the BBC Sounds App, please delete the BBC Sounds App from the device you are using. Once deleted, the links will open the website and you will be able to play the stations from there.
- BBC Radio 1
- BBC Radio 1 Anthems
- BBC Radio 1 Dance
- BBC Radio 1Xtra
- BBC Radio 2
- BBC Radio 3
- BBC Radio 3 Unwind
- BBC Radio 4 Extra
- BBC Radio 5 Live
- BBC Asian Network
- BBC 6 Music
- BBC Live News
- BBC Radio Scotland
- BBC Radio Scotland Extra
- BBC Radio Orkney
- BBC Radio Shetland
- BBC Radio nan Gaidheal
- BBC Radio Ulster
- BBC Radio Foyle
- BBC Radio Wales
- BBC Radio Wales Extra
- BBC Radio Cymru
- BBC Radio Cymru 2
Local Radio
- BBC Radio Berkshire
- BBC Radio Bristol
- BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
- BBC Radio Cornwall
- BBC CWR
- BBC Radio Cumbria
- BBC Radio Derby
- BBC Radio Devon
- BBC Essex
- BBC Radio Gloucestershire
- BBC Radio Guernsey
- BBC Hereford & Worcester
- BBC Radio Humberside
- BBC Radio Jersey
- BBC Radio Kent
- BBC Radio Lancashire
- BBC Radio Leeds
- BBC Radio Leicester
- BBC Radio Lincolnshire
- BBC Radio London
- BBC Radio Manchester
- BBC Radio Merseyside
- BBC Radio Newcastle
- BBC Radio Norfolk
- BBC Radio Northampton
- BBC Radio Nottingham
- BBC Radio Oxford
- BBC Radio Sheffield
- BBC Radio Shropshire
- BBC Radio Solent
- BBC Radio Solent Dorset
- BBC Radio Somerset
- BBC Radio Stoke
- BBC Radio Suffolk
- BBC Radio Surrey
- BBC Radio Sussex
- BBC Radio Tees
- BBC Three Counties Radio
- BBC Radio Wiltshire
- BBC Radio WM
- BBC Radio York
Please note that the BBC Sounds schedule pages for each of the stations listed above will not be available outside the UK. While many programs are available on-demand on bbc.com/BBC app, not all BBC radio content will be available for on-demand listening. We have to balance the rights we have to content along with our available resources. We hope this gets the balance right.
In addition, listening to BBC audio programming on non-BBC platforms will not be affected by this change.
Will I be able to access Welsh language and Gaelic podcasts following the closure of BBC Sounds outside the UK?
Yes, a range of Welsh and Gaelic podcasts will continue to be available internationally via bbc.com/audio and the BBC app.