UK Emergency Alerts test to take place Sunday 23 April

This Sunday, the UK government will test their new Emergency Alerts service, which is designed to warn citizens if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.

The test alert will be received as a message on the home screen of mobile phones, along with a sound and vibration for up to ten seconds. Please note that you do not need to take any action when you receive the message.

You can either swipe away the message or click OK to remove the message. Research in other countries using this system has shown that Emergency Alerts work more effectively when there is a real emergency if people have previously received a test, so they know what an alert looks and sounds like. 

You can find the exact wording of the message on the Gov.uk website.