The Government says its system, which uses mobile phone masts to send information to users in targeted areas, plays “a critical role in making sure that we are ready for all kinds of future emergencies”.
The alert will be in the form of a 10-second siren sound with accompanying phone vibration.
“This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.
“Find simple and effective advice on how to prepare for emergencies at gov.uk/prepare.
Will everyone in the UK get the alert?
The alert is being sent to all smartphones on the UK’s 4G and 5G networks, even if not connected to mobile data or wi-fi.
Older phones, and those connected to 2G or 3G networks, will not receive the message.
It is possible to opt out of the alerts, but the Government strongly recommends keeping them enabled in case of a genuine emergency.
Before the 2023 test, domestic abuse charities warned that the alert system could alert an abuser to the existence of a secret phone.
What went wrong during the 2023 test alert?
While Sunday’s test alert is scheduled for 3pm, some phone users in 2023 got the alert before the scheduled time, while others got it later.
Many phones on the Three network did not get the alert at all, and some users on other networks didn’t receive it, with others receiving multiple iterations of the same message.
The problem was fixed before the system was used to alert people to genuine emergencies.
When has the emergency alert been used for real?
Millions of phones received an emergency alert ahead of Storm Eowyn in January (Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty)Five alerts have been sent since the system was established, most recently in January, when around 4.5 million phones in Scotland and Northern Ireland were alerted before Storm Eowyn.
Around three million people were alerted in England and Wales during Storm Darragh in December, and the alert was used to evacuate more than 10,000 residents in Plymouth while an unexploded bomb was removed and taken out to sea for detonation.
Hence then, the article about when is the national emergency alert and why is it happening was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( When is the national emergency alert – and why is it happening? )
Also on site :