Government confirm exact emergency text Brits will receive today

The government are testing their Emergency Alert system this weekend

The government is once again testing its Emergency Alert System in light of growing geopolitical tensions and an increased risk of natural disasters.

The system was introduced in 2023 and is intended to warn the public of imminent danger nearby.

It has so far been used four times, most recently during Storm Darragh in December 2024.

It is believed the government want to test this system again following a hike in tensions in the Middle East earlier this year which included the United States' involvement in the conflict.

The last alerts were sent in January.

At that time the message read: "This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK Government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.

"In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe.

"Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information.”

The text will read the same in today's test.

The alert is set to sound this afternoon (7 September) at 3pm.

Domestic abuse charities have warned victims with hidden phones to disable the alarm to prevent alerting abusers to the device.

Meanwhile, the government has issued a warning to people to not read or respond to emergency alerts while driving.

Going forward it is likely to be testing once every two years.

The alarm still sounds regardless if a person has their phone on silent.

The message won't be received on some model of phone, notably those without 4G or 5G connectivity.

The phone sounds with a loud alarm and vibrations, distinctly different to a normal notification tone.

This said, it is possible to turn these alerts off, if you decide you'd rather not know about the impending end of the world and enjoy Armageddon in full HD.

On Apple devices, go to settings, notifications, then scroll down to the bottom where it says extreme and severe alerts. Tap the toggle to either turn them on or off.

On Android, go to settings, search 'emergency alerts', then turn off alerts for extreme and severe threats.

The system works in a way in which a mast pings all phones in the area, without the government knowing your location or phone number.

Phones that will not receive Emergency Alerts include:

• Switched off
• Connected to 2G or 3G (rather than 4G or 5G)
• A Wi-fi only device
• Not compatible