On April 23, mobile users in the UK will receive a test emergency message from the Government. If this is the first you’re hearing of it, then we’re not surprised as many have not realised this is happening. We explain what will be happening and tell you how to turn off emergency alerts in the UK.
Mobile users in the UK will receive an emergency alert from the government on April 23. This testing a new system. , already seen in countries such as the United States. Now, it’s coming across the pond as the UK government hopes it to be “life-saving.”
What Is The Alert On April 23?
Already in operation, the UK will be testing its new system which will notify mobile users when there is a risk to their life. It will appear almost like a test message and play a loud siren sound, vibrating your phone to get your attention.
The alerts will be able to notify 90 per cent of the UK population who use mobile phones in a designated area. They will provide concise information on what is happening as well as how to proceed.
These should only be used on rare occasions, however, the first nationwide instance will come on April 23. This is when the government are testing the system, so there will be no reason to be alarmed.
In the UK, emergency alerts will notify people in cases of flooding, wildfires and more in the hopes of getting people to safety and saving lives.
They will be completely free to receive and will only ever be from the government. As the alerts are one-way and sent using cell towers, so no personal information will be used to contact you.
You can read more about the alerts on the Government website.
How To Turn Off Emergency Alerts
If you don’t want to receive them, then turning off emergency alerts on either an iPhone or Android is easily done.
For Andriod users, simply search ’emergency alerts’ in your settings. You’ll then be able to toggle whether you want to receive severe or extreme threats issued by alerts.
Those who have an iPhone need to go into their settings. From there, go into the ‘Notifications’ tab. Scroll right to the bottom and you’ll see a toggle for Extreme and Sever alerts. You can turn both or either one off with a simple click.
It’s important to remember that the alerts are there to help you. If you don’t receive it through your phone, it’s likely you’ll be contacted another way. This is the same for those in the 10 per cent of phone users who won’t receive an emergency alert
