UK: What you need to know about the [mobile phone] Emergency Alerts test on 3pm, 7 September [2025]

Andy

Andy

Senior Member (Voting rights)
Thought this was worth posting to warn those who might find the alert noise disturbing.

"The government will be testing the Emergency Alerts system this Sunday, and your phone is likely to make a loud noise even if it's on silent. Here's everything you need to know about what's happening and why.

What is the Emergency Alerts test?​

On Sunday 7 September 2025 at 3pm, the government will carry out a national test of the Emergency Alerts system. This means most mobile phones and tablets across the UK will receive a test message, accompanied by a loud siren-like sound and vibration that will last for about 10 seconds.

The message you receive will clearly state that this is a test and that no action is required on your part. The alert will come through even if your device is set to silent mode, which is an important feature of the system designed to ensure people receive warnings in genuine emergencies."

Read more at this link
 
As a separate issue when I think about whether to turn it off or it’s useful to make sure I do get such warnings should ‘something happen’

It makes me think about what these things that might happen could be and what on earth I might be able to do or not do anyway. What could the ‘real thing’ these are testing for actually include/be?

I don’t realistically have anyone who is nearer than 20min drive (more with traffic) who these days I could assume would in an emergency have me on their list. Lockdown onwards has taught me those I thought I had either moved or slowly distanced themselves for various reasons (including them having their own crises etc) and that when called on how few of those in the acquaintances category it’s a bad move to ask and leads to more trouble instead of help with honesty about being disabled/ill/vulnerable in the general.

I know there are some ‘good people’ but you only find out at this type of level who those ones are by actually testing it - I doubt each of us knows ourselves until we see what choices we make when in a conundrum.

So when these sites talk about making a plan etc I think of all the day to day risk/downside to my daily ongoing life involved with me asking favour to be on someone I don’t know well or someone I do know well but doesn’t really want me when the time comes vs the ‘one day’ that could crop up, and don’t know whether to ‘plan’. I just think I’m going to have to be left behind if something happens and let everyone else get on with themselves as they have a chance? Are there scenarios where a bit of having a certain thing in my cupboard or whatnot would make a difference etc?

I’m a very capable and pragmatic planner and when less disabled knowing where to draw line on ‘good to have vs will never happen’ but very conscious know that even with max adrenaline if something required more than 30mins of mobilization (and that being imperfect determined struggle followed by a crash out) I wouldn’t get to the end of it so for most things my only options would be very very strategic uses of energy.

It makes me realise when I think of these things too just how much more disabled /I have lost even in recent years - it is an interesting context that strips out that learned tenacity and getting used to/lowering expectations on what you put up with as a life when you think simply ‘what could I escape and how’ and which of those you’d get to the end of rather than being stranded maybe 50m outside your home with a bag lying on the pavement unable to get back or forward for all your efforts.
 
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bobbler said:
What could the ‘real thing’ these are testing for actually include/be?
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One of them is likely to be severe flooding, which will become more common and affect more areas of the country.

The one bit of "prepping" I've done is to shift my important paperwork from the bottom of the wardrobe to the top of it, six feet off the ground (upstairs would be easier, but I live in a bungalow). I know someone who lost their ID stuff in surface water flooding, and it was a huge pain in the bum. They were only flooded with about 14 inches of water for a short time, but their files were on the bottom shelf of a bookcase.
 
I always bulk bought toilet rolls. This made me look a bit bonkers having 48+ rolls at any time, but then Covid happened and I was sitting pretty! I think I should get emergency bottled water maybe. And some cash in coins and small notes. I think the more likely emergency in UK would be loss of power? My electric went out for 2 hours once and it was really awful! No wifi.
 
MrMagoo said:
I think the more likely emergency in UK would be loss of power?
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The way the grid's built it's unlikely to be a very widespread thing in non-rural areas, unless it's the result of a malevolent act rather than bad weather or fires.

Most people seem to keep torches, batteries and candles anyway. I still have half a box of Price's candles left over from the last power cuts over 50 years ago!—but more recently I found Bolsius eight-hour tea lights especially good. They won't fall over unless they're picked up or knocked hard, they can be stood on a plate or saucer, and they're small enough to stash in drawers. If you have tapers to light them, you can also stand them inside wide glass tumblers to make them even safer.

MrMagoo said:
My electric went out for 2 hours once and it was really awful! No wifi.
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I wondered whether the 5G masts would be affected in the last power cut here. We'd been warned there could be supply interruptions, and in the event it was longer than expected. The masts still worked, though; the whole area (with the bizarre exception of a single road) had no streetlights, mains power or heating, but very good wifi.
 
MrMagoo said:
Well imagine being stuck at home unable to wash or cook or do anything (!)
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I can! Not for days on end, at least in the city—they were rolling power cuts—but they were tiresome enough. My dad once managed to boil a kettle on our balcony using candles, but it took so long the leccy had come back on by the time it reached the proper boil you need for tea.

But I have been stuck in a rural area where the lines were down for several days, which made me think I wouldn't want to have to put up with it every few winters. Specially if the water supply was a borehole that depended on an electric pump.
 
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Hadn't realised this system has already been used:

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.
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www.bbc.co.uk

Sirens blare from millions of phones in national test of emergency alerts

PM Keir Starmer said the test was "an important step in keeping people safe during national emergencies".
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
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MrMagoo said:
I always bulk bought toilet rolls. This made me look a bit bonkers having 48+ rolls at any time, but then Covid happened and I was sitting pretty! I think I should get emergency bottled water maybe. And some cash in coins and small notes. I think the more likely emergency in UK would be loss of power? My electric went out for 2 hours once and it was really awful! No wifi.
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I can't remember where there was an earthquake recently but we had 2 emergency alerts for possible tsunami warning here in NZ. One of those alerts went off at 6am.

I have cash, stored water and whenever the weather is rough boil water for the flask so I can have a cup of tea if the power goes out. The number of trees in my neighbour makes the likelihood of power going out greater.
 
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Yes I think the European preparation is more about being stocked up if internet/power/supply chain fails.
I think it’s good habits to get into, keeping a supply of stuff you’re using anyway. No need to build a shelter and stuff it with guns and army ration foods like in the USA.
 
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