The UK Government has launched a mobile phone emergency alert service that will notify people about potential life-threatening emergencies such as severe flooding.

The Emergency Alert will emit a loud, siren-like sound along with vibration of your phone. A message on your screen will tell you about the emergency and how best to respond. The alert will still sound whether your phone is on silent or the volume is turned all the way down.

Emergency Alerts are sent to compatible 4G and 5G mobile phones within an area of risk. They don’t need your location or phone number. Only the government and emergency services can send them.

An emergency alert test will be run on Sunday 23rd April.

This could put those living with abusive partners or families who have a secret or secondary phone kept for emergencies at risk.

To turn off the Emergency Alert system for Apple and Android phones, please see the below instructions.

Steps for Android users:
1. Go to the settings app of the Android device
2. Search for ‘Emergency Alerts’ using the search bar at the top of the screen
3. Click or tap on the first option that pops up
4. Once in the device’s Emergency Alerts settings page, turn off Emergency Alerts by pressing all the toggle buttons (blue means on, grey means off)

Steps for Apple users:
1. Go to the settings app of the Apple device
2. Scroll down to find and click or tap on the ‘Notifications’ tab
3. Scroll all the way down again to find a dedicated section for Emergency Alerts
4. You will see ‘Extreme Alerts’ and ‘Severe Alerts’ buttons, but this sometimes varies depending on which iPhone or Apple device you are using.
5. To turn them off, press all the toggle buttons (blue means on, grey means off)