A national test of public Emergency Alerts will take place at 3:00pm on Sunday the 23rd of April 2023, bringing the UK in line with other countries such as the US and Canada who already use the system.
Emergency Alerts enable urgent messages to be broadcast to a defined area when there is an imminent risk to life, such as fires, severe flooding or extreme weather.
The alerts system will see people receive a message on the home screen of their mobile phone, along with a loud siren-like sound, even if it’s set on silent and vibration for up to 10 seconds. Your phone may even read out the alert. If you have a vision or hearing impairment, audio and vibration attention signals should let you know you have an emergency alert.
Emergency Alerts will only be sent by the emergency services, government departments, agencies and public bodies that deal with emergencies. The government does not need to know your phone number or location to send you an alert.
Emergency Alerts will not replace local news, radio, television or social media. 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.
The system 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 years.
The Test
For the test, the public does not need to take any action.
The sound and vibration will stop automatically after ten seconds.
All people need to do is swipe away the message or click ‘OK’ on their phone’s home screen - just like for a ‘low battery’ warning or notification - and continue to use their phone as normal.
You can find out further information on Emergency Alerts, including what they look and sound like at: www.gov.uk/alerts
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