Emergency Alerts

Emergency Alerts are a free service from the UK government to warn you of any nearby danger to life or property.

Alerts can be sent about anything from severe flooding to fires, terror attacks or public health emergencies.

Alerts are sent using broadcast technology and use the nearest cell towers to the affected area.

In an emergency, every compatible mobile phone or tablet in range will receive a message with details of the incident and advice on how to stay safe. 

Your phone or tablet may:

• make a loud siren-like sound, even if it’s set on silent
• vibrate
• read out the alert
• contain a phone number or link to the GOV.UK website for more info

The alerts are totally secure. 

You don’t need to register your phone number to get them. As such, they don’t reveal your location or collect any personal data.

The Emergency Alerts service works on:

• iPhones running iOS 14.5 or later
• Android phones and tablets running Android 11 or later. (The service may work on devices running an earlier version. If you have one, you should contact your device manufacturer for more information.)
• Apple Watch cellular devices running WatchOS 8.5 or later

Emergency Alerts are only sent by the emergency services, or by government departments, agencies and public bodies that deal with emergencies.

The alerts have a unique set of characteristics that can't be replicated by an SMS message, so they can’t be sent by members of the public.

If you want to verify a message, alerts issued are listed on gov.uk/alerts.

You can also check with neighbours or local friends and family to see if they’ve also received an alert.

• You’ll get alerts based on your current location, not where you live or work. If you’re not near an affected area, you won’t receive a text.
• You won’t get alerts if your device is turned off or in aeroplane mode.
• Emergency Alerts is a free service. You don’t need to sign up for it or download an app.
• Emergency alerts are designed to be accessible to everyone. Some phones will read out the message for blind or partially sighted people. And the alarm sound has been tested with hearing aid users.
• As part of the public information campaign, the government’s working to make sure vulnerable people and carers are supported through emergency alerts. Find out more about emergency alerts

You can choose to opt out of receiving emergency alerts.

Test alerts are to make sure the service is working properly. The government will tell you beforehand if it’s planning to send a test.

You can see a list of current alerts and past alerts at any time.

Please note: Android phones and tablets may get more than one reminder about the same emergency alert. These reminders can be turned off in your settings.