The government is sending out an emergency alert to mobile phones in the UK. It is scheduled to take place at 3pm on Sunday 7 September. This means that your phone will vibrate and there will be a loud siren sound for around 10 seconds, even if you have set it to silent. A message will also appear on your phone screen telling you that it is a test and no action needs to be taken.
We understand that if you use a safety phone (a phone kept hidden for your protection), this news might feel unsettling or overwhelming. But you have time to make any changes you need, and switching off the alert is simple.
How to turn the alarm off
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’.
If you’re one of our service users and this is causing you any concern, please speak to us , we’ll be able to help you with this.
