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| Mon, 15th Aug 2022 8:09:00 |
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Emergency alert system to launch in October across Great Britain |
An emergency warning system, allowing alerts about severe weather and other life-threatening events to be sent to mobile phones, will go live in October in England, Scotland and Wales.
The Cabinet Office says the technology will alert up to 85% of the population.
The messages will be sent automatically to any smartphone which is switched on, although it is possible to opt out by changing a mobile phone setting.
Trials of the alerts were held in Reading and East Suffolk this year.
A government publicity campaign will begin in September, and every phone in England, Scotland and Wales, will receive a "welcome message" in October.
The system will eventually cover the whole of the UK, says the government.
The Cabinet Office says the alerts, which will look and sound different to standard messages, will be able to give highly localised warnings of:
flooding
fires
extreme weather
public health emergencies
Terror attacks could also be added to the list of potential scenarios to trigger a message.
Officials would not discuss the arrangements for warning the population of an impending military or nuclear attack on the country.
About 85% of people have a smartphone capable of receiving the messages, it is estimated.
The government does not have statistics for the number of older 2G and 3G mobile devices in use, and stresses it does not keep a list of all phone users.
The system works by sending a message and a distinctive warning tone to mobiles directly via cell towers, rather than accessing a list of mobile numbers.
An alert can be sent to a single tower, meaning anyone in the vicinity could pick it up, even, for example, when travelling through the area.
The government will draw on the expertise of specialist agencies, such as the Met Office or the Environment Agency, in deciding when to trigger alerts.
The messages can only be sent by the emergency services or the government. Anyone who is concerned that an alert may not be genuine can check on the government website at www.gov.uk/alerts, where all messages will be listed.
Opting out
All phones will be opted into the scheme and users will have to opt out if they don't want the messages - but data from the trials suggests most will not do that.
Touring the Met Office in Exeter on Monday, senior Cabinet Office Minister Kit Malthouse defended the opt-out arrangement.
"You have the ability to turn it off if you really don't want to know that these things are coming to your area and are going to affect you," he said.
"Our job is to keep people safe. We have the information to keep them safe. We need to make sure that we broadcast it as far and wide as we can.
Read original full article
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