On 23rd April, a welcome message for the Emergency Alerts system will be sent out to all compatible phones in the UK.
Ahead of this, Cabinet Office Communications and Emergency Alerts Team are asking for support of the public campaign to ensure that all stakeholders are information of the Welcome Message date – in particular this related to ensuring that vulnerable groups are informed about the alerts and are aware of how they can opt out of receiving these.
The Emergency Alerts service will enable people to be contacted via their mobile phone if their lives are at risk in an emergency. It will be used to send a direct message only where there is a risk to life, either locally or nationally. This could include public health emergencies, severe floods, fires and industrial incidents.
Following successful tests in East Suffolk and Reading in Summer 2021, the Emergency Alerts system is now live. Please use the resources below to get the message out to as many as possible to make sure they are aware of the Emergency Alerts service.
If you get an Emergency Alert on your phone, you'll hear a loud, siren-like sound. A message on your screen will tell you about the emergency and how best to respond. You'll be able to check if an alert is genuine at gove.uk/alerts.
Get more information about the alerts here.
Access the Emergency Alerts factsheet below.
Access the Emergency Alerts partner toolkit here.