Sirens blare from mobile phones in test of national emergency alert system
Siren sounds blared from mobile phones across Northern Ireland on Sunday in a test of the UK’s national emergency alert system.
At around 3pm, mobiles connected to 4G and 5G networks vibrated and sounded for about 10 seconds in the second test of the system – after the first in 2023.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said tens of millions of phones successfully sounded across the UK during the test.
He posted on X saying: “Tens of millions of phones successfully sounded across the country during today’s Emergency Alert test.
“This is an important step in keeping people safe during national emergencies.”
In the Ireland v New Zealand Women’s Rugby World Cup at Brighton there was an announcement on the big screen a minute before the alert and then the referee briefly paused the match while it was happening.
And theatre-goers were advised to turn their phones off and drivers urged not to be distracted behind the wheel.
Mobile phone users received a message making clear that the alert was a drill.
The Government has used the system to issue real warnings five times, including in January during Storm Eowyn to warn people in Scotland and Northern Ireland about severe weather.
Approximately 3.5 million people across Wales and south-west England received an alert during Storm Darragh last December.
A 500kg unexploded Second World War bomb found in a Plymouth back garden triggered a warning to some 50,000 phones in February last year.
Messages can be targeted to relatively small areas to pinpoint those at risk.