The Government will roll out its emergency alert test this weekend - which will leave mobile phones up and down the country blaring sirens and vibrating.
But those who plan on driving at 3pm this Sunday (April 23) are being urged to turn off the alarm prior in their device settings, so it doesn't come as a major distraction while they are behind the wheel.
And an expert from car insurance firm Veygo has urged people not to switch the alert off while driving, as that would be an infraction of the law which could lead to penalisation.
The Record reports the notification will have to be switched it off manually, meaning you'll physically have to touch your phone to do so. But if you're driving a motor vehicle while doing so, it could put you in violation of rule 149 of the Highway Code.
The rule says that you are prohibited from using hand held devices like phones and sat-navs while driving, and you could be hit with a £200 fine and up to six penalty points for doing so. You may also be taken to court and banned from driving, as well as receive a fine of up to £1,000 depending on the severity of the offence.
The UK Government advice meanwhile, states: "You should not read or otherwise respond to an emergency alert whilst driving or riding a motorcycle," adding: "If you are driving, you should continue to drive and not respond to the noise or attempt to pick up the mobile phone and deal with the message.
"Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message. If there is nowhere safe or legal to stop close by, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, tune into live radio and wait for bulletins until you can find somewhere safe and legal to stop."
Should you be planning on driving come 3pm April 23, you can turn off the inconvenience in advance, by opting out of the emergency test itself. To do so, simply head to your phone's settings, click 'emergency alerts' and then turn off 'severe alerts' or 'extreme alerts'.
Please bare in mind however, that you should do this before you start driving - as per the previously explained Highway Code rule.
Read next:
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- Exact time and date emergency siren will sound on every UK mobile phone
- Drivers issued warning as emergency alert test to be sent to all phones
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