UK emergency alerts: How to stay safe
A nationwide test of the UK’s emergency alert service will take place at 3pm on Sunday 7 September 2025. The alerts will warn you if there’s a danger to life nearby, such as flooding or fires.
However, we are concerned about the potential safety risks to survivors who may be keeping their phones hidden from an abuser, as the alert is a loud, siren-like sound with a screen message and vibration.
Survivors can opt out from receiving emergency alerts to avoid their device from being detected.
Emergency Alerts will be sent to compatible mobile phones within an area of risk. Emergency alerts work on:
- iPhones running iOS 14.5 or later
- Android phones and tablets running Android 11 or later
The alert may still be received on earlier versions of Android. To check, search your device settings for ‘emergency alerts’.
How to opt out
iPhones and Android phones
To opt out:
- Search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’.
- Turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’.
Other mobile phones and tablets
Depending on the manufacturer and software version of your phone, emergency alerts settings may be called different names, such as ‘wireless emergency alerts’ or ‘emergency broadcasts’.
The settings can usually be found in one of the following ways. Go to:
- ‘message’, then ‘message settings, then ‘wireless emergency alerts’, then ‘alert’
- ‘settings’, then ‘sounds’, then ‘advanced’, then ‘emergency broadcasts’
- ‘settings’, then ‘general settings’, then ‘emergency alerts’
Then turn off ‘severe alerts’, ‘extreme alerts’ and ‘test alerts’.
You can also find out more at gov.uk/alerts and on the Q&A document.
Press
Isabelle Younane, Head of External Affairs at Women’s Aid, said:
“Women’s Aid has long voiced concerns about the emergency alert system and the danger that such alerts could pose to survivors of domestic abuse, and we are pleased to see that these warnings have been heard and it is now possible to opt out.
“We know that survivors will often have second phones which they might use to help them to access lifesaving support or flee abuse. An emergency alert could risk an abuser discovering the phone and cutting off a vital lifeline, putting lives in danger. It is vital that survivors are aware of how to switch off emergency alerts on their phones to mitigate this risk.”