National Emergency Alert System
Emergency Alerts is a new mobile phone service being trialled by the UK government.
If you’re a survivor of domestic abuse with an undisclosed or secondary phone the government’s new emergency alert could reveal your phone, even if it’s on silent.
The emergency alerts will work like a radio broadcast. In an emergency, mobile phone masts in the affected area will broadcast an alert. EVERY compatible mobile phone or tablet in range of the mast will receive the alert.
An emergency alert will look and sound different to other types of mobile phone messages. When you receive an emergency alert you will hear a loud noise like a siren and your phone will use a distinct vibration and a message will appear on your screen. The sound and vibration will last for approximately 10 seconds. You will hear the alert even if your mobile or device is switched to silent. You will not get an alert if your device is switched off or on aeroplane mode.
The UK trial will launch in March 2023 and will run until the end of June 2023 and in Scotland alerts will only be issued for very severe weather emergencies.
There will be a test alert message sent out on Sunday 23 April 2023. This message will be clearly marked as a test and no further action will be need other than to switch the alert off.
If you are worried the Emergency Alerts will put you at risk, it is possible to opt out of receiving the emergency alerts.
To opt out and switch the emergency alerts off:
- Access your settings menu on your mobile or tablet
- Inside the settings menu there will be a Notifications menu
- In the Notifications menu there will be an option to switch ‘Emergency Alerts’ off and ‘Severe Alerts’ off.
For further help on switching these alerts off please download our guidance for both iPhone and Android devices which can be found on the link below.
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