A new system that gives the Government and emergency services the capability to send emergency alerts has been launched. The system is designed to bolster the UK’s resilience and provides the capability to send alerts direct to mobile phones when there is a risk to life.
A UK-wide alerts test will take place in the early evening of Sunday 23 April.
Working with mobile broadcasting technology, the Emergency Alerts system will transform the UK’s warning and informing capability, providing a means to get urgent messages quickly to nearly 90 percent of mobile phones in a defined area.
The alerts will only ever come from the Government or emergency services, and warnings issued will issue a warning, always include the details of the area impacted, and provide instructions about how best to respond - linking to gov.uk/alerts where people can receive further information.
Emergency Alerts will be used very rarely - only being sent where there is an immediate risk to people’s lives - so people may not receive an alert for months, or even years.
The government does not need to know your phone number or location to send you an alert.
Reasons you might get an alert
You may get alerts about:
- severe flooding
- fires
- extreme weather
Emergency alerts will only be sent by:
- the emergency services
- government departments, agencies and public bodies that deal with emergencies
What happens when you get an emergency alert
Your mobile phone or tablet may:
- make a loud siren-like sound, even if it’s set on silent
- vibrate
- read out the alert
The sound and vibration will last for about 10 seconds.
An alert will include a phone number or a link to the GOV.UK website for more information.
You’ll get alerts based on your current location - not where you live or work. You do not need to turn on location services to receive alerts.
What you need to do
When you get an alert, stop what you’re doing and follow the instructions in the alert.
If you’re driving or riding when you get an alert
- You should not read or otherwise respond to an emergency alert whilst driving or riding a motorcycle.
- If you are driving, you should continue to drive and not respond to the noise or attempt to pick up the mobile phone and deal with the message.
- Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message. If there is nowhere safe or legal to stop close by, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, tune into live radio and wait for bulletins until you can find somewhere safe and legal to stop.
It is illegal to use a hand-held device while driving or riding.
If you cannot receive emergency alerts
If you do not have a compatible device, you’ll still be informed about an emergency. The emergency services have other ways to warn you when there is a threat to life.
Make sure your device has all the latest software updates.
Emergency alerts work on:
- iPhones running iOS 14.5 or later
- Android phones and tablets running Android 11 or later
If you have an earlier version of Android, you may still be able to receive alerts. To check, search your device settings for ‘emergency alerts’.
Emergency alerts will not replace local news, radio, television or social media.
If you're deaf, hard of hearing, blind or partially Sighted
If you have a vision or hearing impairment, audio and vibration attention signals will let you know you have an emergency alert.