Government set to send emergency alert to every phone in UK

No better time to test the old Emergency Alert System!

The government will once again be testing its Emergency Alert System in light of growing geopolitical tensions.

The system was introduced in 2023 and is intended to warn the public of imminent danger nearby.

It has so far been used four times, most recently during Storm Darragh.

It is believed the government want to test this system again following the recent hike in tensions in the Middle East as well as the United States' involvement in the conflict.

The last alerts were sent in January.

At that time the message read: "This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK Government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.

"In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe.

"Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information.”

Currently, a date has not yet been set for this test, although it is understood to be the last of 2025.

Going forward it is likely to be testing once every two years.

The alarm still sounds regardless if a person has their phone on silent.

The phone sounds with a loud alarm and vibrations, distinctly different to a normal notification tone.

This said, it is possible to turn these alerts off, if you decide you'd rather not know about the impending end of the world and enjoy Armageddon in full HD.

On Apple devices, go to settings, notifications, then scroll down to the bottom where it says extreme and severe alerts. Tap the toggle to either turn them on or off.

On Android, go to settings, search 'emergency alerts', then turn off alerts for extreme and severe threats.