Emergency alert system: When is the alarm and how do you turn it off your mobile phone?

6 April 2023, 09:04

By Naomi Bartram

@naomibartram

The time has been set for the first ever national mobile phone emergency alert test in the UK.

A nationwide test of the UK's emergency alert service is set to take place later this month.

This will see messages pop up on millions of mobile phones across the country, along with a sound and vibration for 10 seconds.

If you receive the notification, all you have to do is tap ‘OK’ or swipe it away for the noise to stop.

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Following pilots in East Suffolk and Reading, it's the first nationwide trial of the service with similar services being used in countries like the US, Canada, and Japan.

The government said it would be used in 'life-threatening emergencies', including extreme weather events like wildfires and flooding.

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When is the first emergency alert system?

A siren will go off on nearly every smartphone in the UK at 3pm on Sunday 23rd April and coincides with the London Marathon.

The test was supposed to go off in the early evening but was moved to avoid clashing with an FA Cup semi-final, which kicks off at 4.30pm.

The minister in charge of the system, Oliver Dowden, said it would be used only in situations where there was an immediate risk to life.

He told the BBC: "You are not going to be spammed by the government with constant incoming messages. The bar for this is exceptionally high.

"We chose the afternoon for it because that is quieter than the morning when people are more likely to be shopping or attending church services.”

How can I turn the emergency alert off my mobile?

Government officials are insisting that the public should keep the emergency alerts on as they could be life saving.

But domestic abuse charity Refuge is advising vulnerable people to turn them off ahead of the test.

Emma Pickering, senior operations tech abuse manager at Refuge, said: "Our concerns are centred on the very real risk to survivors of domestic abuse who may have secret or secondary phones hidden within the home, which they must ensure are not discovered by their perpetrators.

"These devices can be a lifeline for women who need to access support or flee their abuser."

She added: "These alerts will come through as a loud siren even if devices are on silent and could alert an abuser to a concealed device."

To opt-out of the service, simply go to your phone's settings, on iOS, enter the ‘Notifications’ tab.

Here, you can turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’, while Britons with an android phone should search ‘emergency alert’ in their phone's settings.

All 4G and 5G Android and Apple phones are already fitted with emergency alert capability, but people who have their phones switched off will not receive the message.

The sound will still go off if your phone is switched to silent but it won't be received if a phone is in airplane mode.

Older smartphones which cannot access the 4G or 5G phone networks will also not get the message notification.