If you’re in the UK and have a mobile phone, then be aware that a siren-like alarm will sound on your handset on Sunday April 23 (if your phone is switched on) accompanied by an emergency alert message; however there’s nothing to worry about, other that possibly spilling your tea in shock.
It's a test of the UK’s new emergency alert system, and the message you get on your phone will say as much. You can simply tap ‘OK’ in response to the message to clear it – you’ll have to acknowledge the alert by doing that before you can use other functions of your device. Note that this is different to the emergency SOS feature already found on many of the best phones.
The alert sound will be accompanied by a vibration, and will play for around 10 seconds, even if your phone is set to silent, which is sure to add an exciting extra element if you happen to be watching Scream VI at the time. You can see an example of the alert in the video below.
The emergency alert test is planned for early evening on 23 April, so schedule any naps accordingly.
Testing a life-saving system
While this test is sure to amuse and annoy in equal measure, it’s an important one, as it's the first test of a new system that's been in the works for years, and which finally went live on 19 March – and which, in the future, could save lives.
Following this UK-wide test, emergency alerts will only be sent out when there's an immediate risk to people’s lives, which will hopefully be rarely.
The actual alerts – not including this test – will be only be sent to people in affected regions, and will act as an immediate way to get urgent messages to almost 90% of people in an affected area.
These emergency alerts will only ever come from the Government or emergency services, and they’ll include details of the area affected, and what you should do.
The Government says these emergency alerts will initially be focused on the most serious severe weather-related incidents, such as severe flooding. But there are any number of other situations where they could be called upon.
It’s also worth noting that these alerts are secure, free to receive, one-way, and don’t reveal your location or collect any personal data.
So this sounds like a worthwhile system, and it’s one that if anything the UK is slightly late to, as the likes of the US, Canada, the Netherlands, and Japan already have similar emergency alert systems in place, and they’ve successfully saved lives.
