MILLIONS of phones will sound a siren next week in one of the largest public safety exercises.
The national emergency alert test will take place at around 3pm on Sunday, September 7.
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Pat McFadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “It will be one of the UK’s largest public safety exercises in history.”
“It is a vital tool for keeping the nation safe when lives are on the line – and every minute matters.”
Phones will vibrate and emit a siren-like tone for ten seconds, with a test message appearing on screens to make clear the alert is only a drill.
Only 4G and 5G-enabled phones and tablets will receive the alert.
The Government has used the system to issue real warnings five times, including in January during Storm Eowyn to warn people in Scotland and Northern Ireland about severe weather.
Approximately 3.5 million people across Wales and south-west England received an alert during Storm Darragh last December.
A 500kg unexploded Second World War bomb found in a Plymouth back garden triggered a warning to some 50,000 phones in February last year.
Messages can be targeted to relatively small areas to pinpoint those at risk.
Some 15,000 phones were alerted during flooding in Cumbria in May 2024, and 10,000 received a warning during flooding in Leicestershire in January this year.
The system is designed for use during the most likely emergencies to affect the UK and warnings would also be transmitted on television, radio and locally by knocking on doors.
