Tens of millions of mobile phones across the United Kingdom will simultaneously emit a loud siren on Sunday afternoon as the government conducts a nationwide test of its emergency alert system.
At exactly 3:00 pm (1400 GMT), most of Britain’s 87 million mobile phones and tablets will vibrate and sound a ten-second alarm, accompanied by a message confirming that the notification is only a drill, officials said.
It will be just the second national trial of the system, following the first in 2003, and forms part of government efforts to strengthen Britain’s resilience in the face of more frequent extreme weather events and the ongoing security risks linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Just like the smoke alarm in your house, the fire alarm in this building, it’s important to test these things now and again,” Pat McFadden, the minister overseeing the system, told BBC Radio on Thursday.
The government has spent weeks raising awareness to reduce the likelihood of panic, issuing announcements at rail stations and displaying warnings on motorway signs. Officials chose this weekend to minimise disruption, with no top-flight men’s football matches scheduled due to international fixtures.
Still, McFadden acknowledged the alerts may interfere with personal events such as weddings, funerals and children’s parties.
“There’s no perfect time to do these things,” he said. “There will be something that is disturbed as a result of this.”
The government has deployed the alert system five times in the past two years for localised emergencies.
In January, 4.5 million people in Scotland and Northern Ireland received alerts during Storm Eowyn after a red weather warning signalled a potential risk to life. Last February, a 500-kilogram unexploded World War II bomb discovered in a back garden in southwest England triggered warnings to 50,000 phones.
Officials say the system is reserved for the most serious emergencies that could threaten lives, including severe weather, industrial accidents or security threats. Alerts may also be broadcast on television, radio, or delivered in person where necessary.
The alert trial comes just weeks after the publication of the government’s Resilience Action Plan, which stressed lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, trade disruptions, cyber attacks and geopolitical instability.
In the foreword, McFadden warned:
“The whole of the UK’s national resilience our economy, defences and biosecurity is being tested like never before.”
Similar warning systems are already in use in countries such as the United States and Japan. Only devices connected to 4G or 5G networks will receive Sunday’s alert.
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