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Get ready to jump out of your skin.. again. The UK Government recently announced that mobile network operators will conduct a second nationwide test of the Emergency Alerts service later in 2025, which is normally only intended to be used if there’s a “danger to life nearby” (e.g. severe flooding, fires and extreme weather).
The government has not yet agreed a firm date for the new Emergency Alerts test, which will usually only show-up on modern 4G and 5G capable Smartphones. But it’s expected to follow the same format as the last one, and you will not get the alerts if your device is turned off or in aeroplane mode.
In other words, recipients (most of us) can expect to suffer 10 seconds of an annoyingly loud siren suddenly blaring out at you while your phone vibrates and displays a message to say that all is actually well, it’s just a test. Small comfort if you happen to be driving down a busy motorway at the time it hits, or using a public toilet. The latter is at least usually more amusing than dangerous.
The alerts themselves are broadcast from cell towers in the vicinity of an emergency (they don’t need your phone number for this to work) and will only ever come from the Government or emergency services. Such alerts are a free one-way secure communication and do NOT reveal anyone’s location or collect personal data.
You can opt out of the emergency alerts system in your phone’s settings, which is normally possible by search the settings section for “emergency alerts”, and turning off “severe alerts” and “extreme alerts”. But we have found that these specific options don’t always exist, even on modern handsets. Alternatively, Android users could try this method (further details):
- Open your phone calling app
- Use the keypad to enter *#*#2627#*#*
- Search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’ and turn off ‘test alerts’, ‘exercise alerts’, ‘operator defined’ and ‘operator alerts’
Hopefully it goes without saying that you should NOT read or respond to an emergency alert when you are driving or riding a vehicle. Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before picking up your phone and reading the message.
The last national test occurred in 2023, although it was used in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland during January 2025, which came as part of the response to the red weather warnings issued ahead of Storm Éowyn.