Do you remember the government’s emergency alert test in April 2023? It was designed to reach everyone, but an estimated five million people on the Three mobile network didn’t receive it.
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The government is sending another dummy alert at 3pm on Sunday, September 7th. This is a good opportunity for us to figure out why some of us might not get the alert and how we can prepare for it.
The purpose of these alerts is to warn people about life-threatening events like wildfires, severe flooding, and extreme storms.
Officials say it’s important to test these alerts to make sure they reach everyone when a real emergency occurs. So, if you have a phone, you should know if it’s compatible.
📱 Is Your Phone Compatible?
For your phone to receive the alert, it needs to be on a 4G or 5G network. While O2 is still providing a 3G network, it’s being switched off by the end of 2025. If you’re on a 2G or 3G phone, you won’t get the alert.
Ofcom estimates that around one million 2G phones are still in use in the UK.Also, your phone needs to be running a version of Android later than 11 or iOS later than 14.5. The alert is sent from phone masts, so your phone needs to be connected to a mobile network, not just Wi-Fi. Putting your phone into Airplane mode might also prevent the alert from arriving. If you want to check your phone’s software version, you can do so in the settings menu.
🚫 What About If You Don’t Want the Alert?
Of course, you may not want to receive the alert. Many people were annoyed about it in 2023, seeing it as the Government intruding where it wasn’t wanted. You can easily disable alerts on your iPhone by going to Settings, tapping Notifications, and turning off ‘Severe Alerts’ and ‘Emergency Alerts’. For Android, the steps depend on the phone, but you can usually find an ‘Emergency alerts’ option in Settings.
- Will your phone get the Govt’s emergency alert? Computeractive – Issue 715, 30 July-12 August 2025.
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