Emergency Alert: Time, how to deactivate, driving rules and why your phone will ring

The nationwide public alert system is scheduled for 3pm, with the intention being to use it in life-threatening situations such as flood and wildfires.

Working with mobile broadcasting technology, it's said that Emergency Alerts will transform the UK’s warning and informing capability; providing a means to get urgent messages quickly to nearly 90 per cent of mobile phones in a defined area when there is a risk to life, and provide clear instructions about how best to respond.

Following successful pilots in East Suffolk and Reading, the test alert - will see people receive a message on the home screen of their mobile phone, along with a sound and vibration for up to 10 seconds when the test alert goes out this weekend.

In future, the Emergency Alerts system will be used for situations like flooding and extreme weather, warning those in the area when there is an immediate risk to life or people’s properties. This could cover situations like the flash flooding in February 2022 which led to evacuations as the River Severn burst its banks flooding places like Bewdley, and Ironbridge.

For the test, no action is needed - the sound and vibration will stop automatically after 10 seconds. All people need to do is swipe away the message or click ‘OK’ on their phone’s home screen - just like for a ‘low battery’ warning or notification - and continue to use their phone as normal.

Drivers have also been warned not pick up their mobile phone whilst driving, as it would pose the risk of facing six points on their license and a £200 fine.

Along with drivers, domestic violence victims with secret phones have been warned ahead of the national alert system test.

The Victims’ Commissioner for the West Midlands put out a message to vulnerable people around the forthcoming national emergency alert system test.

Nicky Brennan has posted a video on the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner's Twitter page to remind victims of domestic abuse and other vulnerable people to turn any secret phones alerts to silent when the UK Government tests the new emergency alert system.

She said: "On Sunday, April 23, the government will be testing its mobile phone emergency alert system. It's designed to warn people of major incidents such as flooding.

"However, for many victims of domestic abuse, a secret phone is a vital lifeline and the alert could put you at risk."

A secret phone for domestic abuse and violence victims may be a phone with a private number or a pay-as-you-go mobile.

The test is being carried out to ensure that the system is working properly, and that people know what to expect if they receive an alert in the future.

However, as Ms Brennan stated, for a survivor of domestic abuse with a secret or secondary phone, the government’s new emergency alerts could reveal their phone, even if it’s on silent.

How to deactivate the Emergency Alert

iPhone users can prevent their phone from going off on Sunday by doing the following:

Open Settings

Go to notifications

Scroll down to the bottom and disable the extreme alerts and severe alerts options.

Android phone users can simply search for emergency alerts in their settings, and turn off severe alerts and emergency alerts but turning the sliders grey.

Emergency Alerts have already been used successfully in a number of other countries, including the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan, where it has been widely credited with saving lives, for example, during severe weather events. In the UK, and in many areas including the West Midlands, alerts could be used to tell residents of severe flooding.

The system will be used very rarely - only being sent where there is an immediate risk to people’s lives - so people may not receive an alert for months or years.