The UK tested its emergency alert system yesterday afternoon, causing millions of phones to emit a siren-like sound in unison.
The alerts are designed to warn the public of life-threatening emergencies in a more efficient way than using SMS texts. However, the test wasn’t without its hiccups: Millions of Londonders did not receive the alerts, while countless others complained about the noise created by several phones going off at once.
For those who wish to disable the alerts for whatever reason, be it to keep your phone hidden or simply because you don’t wish to be disturbed while driving, you can do so by the following the steps outlined below.
However, we would caution that these alerts are meant to warn you of impending and imminent danger. Therefore, it is not advisable to ignore them in the future now that the test has been completed.
If you still want to go ahead with blocking the alerts, you can quickly disable them in your phone’s settings. Bear in mind, that this method will require you to manually switch them back on if you want to receive them in the future.
How to block UK emergency alerts on your phone
iPhone
On an iPhone, go to your settings, click notifications, and emergency alerts.
Here, you can toggle off both “extreme alerts” and “severe Alerts”.
Android
The method of disabling the alerts on an Android phone is similar to an iPhone, though the wording below may differ based on your manufacturer.
First, open your settings, then head to safety and emergency, and wireless emergency alerts.
Now, switch off “allow alerts”.
Other ways to disable emergency alerts on your phone
Another option to turn off the alerts is to follow the old-fashioned route of completely switching off your phone. You can also turn on Airplane Mode, which essentially takes your phone offline and prevents you from sending or receiving texts.
