Exact time & date every phone in Britain will be pinged with Emergency Alert that triggers loud siren for 10 seconds
The alarm will last around 10 seconds and will sound even if phones are set to silent.
1
It will happen at 3pm on Sunday, September 7, with the system expected to reach around 87 million devices across the UK.
Ministers say the alerts could save lives by giving people crucial warnings when danger is near, similar to systems already used in countries like the US and Japan.
Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said: 'Emergency Alerts have the potential to save lives, allowing us to share essential information rapidly in emergency situations including extreme storms. Just like the fire alarm in your house, it's important we test the system so that we know it will work if we need it."
The last nationwide test in 2023 saw mobiles across the UK blare out the alert, and since then, the system has been triggered during major storms, floods, and even when a World War II bomb was discovered in Plymouth.
In January this year, 4.5 million people in Scotland and Northern Ireland received an alert as Storm Éowyn battered the UK with a red weather warning in place.
During Storm Darragh last December, 3.5 million people in Wales and the South West got an alert — the storm killed two people.
Police say the alerts were vital during the Plymouth evacuation, when more than 10,000 people were moved after the discovery of an unexploded bomb.
Tracey Lee, Chief Executive of Plymouth Council, said: "It played a vital role in helping us safely evacuate over 10,000 people and coordinate a complex, multi-agency response."
Assistant Chief Constable Glen Mayhew added: 'By their nature, emergency incidents occur with very little notice. They can develop at speed and across wide areas which puts lives at risk. This system has the ability to send an alert to those whose lives may be at risk, to ensure they can act to help themselves and others."
The alerts work on all 4G and 5G networks, but phones must be switched on to receive them.
Special guidance is being issued to victims of domestic abuse with hidden phones, who may need to opt out to stay safe.
The message sent on September 7 will clearly state it is only a test.
The test comes alongside wider government plans to boost the UK's resilience — including £1.3 billion for new biosecurity centres, £4.2 billion for flood defences, and the biggest pandemic exercise in Britain's history, dubbed Exercise Pegasus.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Texas county deflects mounting questions over actions before deadly flood
As deaths from catastrophic Texas flooding surpassed 100 on Monday, local officials in one of the hardest-hit counties have still revealed little about what, if any, actions they took to safeguard residents, tourists and visitors in an area known as 'flash flood alley'. At a series of briefings since the flooding on July 4, Kerr County officials have deflected a series of pointed questions about preparations and warnings as forecasters warned of life-threatening conditions. Advertisement The county in the scenic Texas Hill Country is home to several summer camps, including Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp that announced on Monday it lost at least 27 campers and counsellors. Leon Meier throws a tree branch during clean-up efforts after flooding in Centre Point, Texas (AP/Ashley Landis) 'Today's not the day and now's not the time to discuss the warnings, who got them, who didn't got them. Right now, I'm only worried about public safety,' Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leitha said on Monday during an emergency session of the county commissioners court. Dalton Rice, the city manager of Kerrville, said on Monday that authorities were reluctant to 'cry wolf' and order evacuations, adding that rainfall 'significantly' exceeded the projected amounts. He said officials had little time to react in the middle of the night, adding that qualified first responders were being 'swept away' driving through the initial rainfall. Advertisement 'This rose very quickly in a very short amount of time,' Mr Rice said. In the 48 hours before the floods, the potential for heavy rains put precautions in motion as the state activated an emergency response plan and moved resources into the central Texas area. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning at 1.14 am on Friday to mobile phones and weather radios, more than three hours before the first reports of flooding at low-water crossings in Kerr County at 4.35 am. The warning was updated at 4.03 am to a flash-flood emergency. Advertisement The warning included Hunt, the small town that is home to Camp Mystic. Girls who were rescued from the camp have said they were woken up after midnight by strong storms that knocked out power. Bright flashes from lightning strikes showed the river rising rapidly. Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers load a recovered body into the back of a vehicle near the Guadalupe River (AP/Eli Hartman) It was not immediately clear what kind of evacuation plans Camp Mystic might have had. Local officials have known for decades that flooding posed a serious risk to life and property in the region, and a county government report last year warned the threat was getting worse. Advertisement Kerr County's hazard mitigation action plan reported at least 106 'flood occurrences' dating back to 1960. Local officials determined that another flood was likely in the next year and that 'future worst-case flood events' could be more severe than those of the past. The risk of a 500-year flood was 'not negligible' and could lead to downed power lines, stranded residents and buildings that were damaged 'or even completely washed away', the report warned. Climate change could make the river flooding more frequent, it noted. Advertisement The region has known significant tragedy. A 1987 flood after a heavy rain prompted the evacuation of a youth camp in the town of Comfort. Officials ride a boat as they arrive to assist with a recovery effort at Camp Mystic (AP/Julio Cortez) A wall of water quickly swamped buses and vans. Ten teenagers died. Decades later, the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, which manages the river watershed, released a video to YouTube titled Be Flood Aware 2017. Viewed over 40,000 times online, the video outlines the history of the Guadalupe River, its history of tragic flooding and ways the public can remain safe when floodwaters rise. 'Terrain here is unique for flash flooding,' the video noted. It mentioned the dangers of a significant rainfall near the river's headwaters near Camp Mystic. The storm that hit last Friday dumped more than six inches on the area in three hours. The river rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes. The river authority has cited the need to develop a flood warning system in Kerr County as a top priority in its last three annual strategic plans. Kerr County commissioners considered several years ago a proposal for a flood warning system similar to sirens used for tornadoes in other parts of the country, including in nearby Comal County, which includes part of the Guadalupe River. Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly, who was not on the commission at the time but attended meetings, said the warning system idea was shelved because residents 'reeled at the cost'.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews Heatwaves: The New Normal? It used to be called ‘summer', now a hot spell has the BBC in meltdown
Heatwaves: The New Normal? (BBC2) Marilyn Monroe started a heat-wave in 1954, by 'letting her seat wave', in a fiery number from the musical There's No Business Like Show Business. 'Her anatomy, made the mercury, jump to 93!' But to hear the BBC tell it, you'd think there was no such thing as a heatwave before climate change. Weather presenter Sarah Keith-Lucas was having a meltdown in Heatwaves: The New Normal? as she predicted wildfires sweeping the UK and 'extreme heat' with 'extreme consequences'. This was the language of hysteria, matched with pictures of burned-out houses and forest infernos. 'When Los Angeles burned, home after home was razed to the ground,' she warned. 'In Australia, hundreds have died and millions of hectares devastated as a result of bushfires. ' Britain, too, could be on the verge of similar heatwave hell, Sarah believes, thanks to 'human-induced climate change'. We cut to clips of anxious members of the public, voicing fears of 'climate collapse'. A buildings expert declared that old buildings with the wrong sort of windows 'will just become uninhabitable'. How this will happen, he didn't explain. Maybe he was worried about rusty hinges that won't open. But a bit of WD-40 will fix that, and it's cheaper than abandoning your home and moving into an air-conditioned refuge. Temperatures above 26°C could cause thousands of deaths, Sarah claimed, citing the Office for National Statistics. Before climate change, a week of 26°C used to be known as 'summer'. Now, it's the end of civilisation. Car valets of the night: Following a fatal stabbing, Mark and Johnny set about restoring a blood-soaked Renault to showroom condition for a rental fleet, on Crime Scene Cleaners (Ch4). Somebody could have died in your next holiday hire vehicle. There's a grim thought. Sarah did admit that a heatwave happened in 1976, though she reported it as a moment of national crisis, with police evacuating countless people from their homes, probably because they couldn't open their windows. But the problem, according to Candice Howarth — spokeswoman for the Quadrature Climate Foundation — is that 'we culturally and historically aren't used to heatwaves in the UK'. I'm sure she's right. Cinema-goers in the Fifties probably came out scratching their heads and saying, 'You know what, Doris, culturally and historically I've got no idea what Marilyn Monroe was singing about.' The reality is that anything can become an alarming new phenomenon if it's served with a spin of panic. Sarah took us into her BBC weather studio, a cubbyhole with a camera and a green screen, and showed us a map on which the jet stream locked Britain under a 'heat dome'. As the temperatures rose, the colours on the map turned a more vivid red. By the time it hit 30°C (86°F), the UK was glowing fire-alarm crimson. Then she met a farmer who was planning to cope with 'weather extremities' by planting a vineyard. Sadly, Sarah was left holding an empty bottle because the vines haven't produced grapes yet.
Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Warm rivers passing 20C has been ruinous for fish
The UK's hottest and driest spring on record has overheated rivers around the country, leading to concentrated water pollution, low flows and more fish deaths, according to the Angling Trust. River temperatures in England and Wales from March 20 to June 21 were the hottest since the trust's major citizen science project to monitor water quality started three years ago. In 2025 there have been 87 confirmed incidents of fish kills — meaning a sudden spate of localised deaths — which is higher than at this stage in any of the past three years. While those include deaths caused by natural factors, 36 were due to low flows which concentrate pollution from farms and sewage — higher than at this point in 2023 and 2024. Fish rescues have already been needed on the River Teme in Wales and River Redlake in Shropshire.
