Vulnerable people in the North or near the Border warned of phone alert test

The UK phone alert system is intended to warn citizens of threats to public safety including extreme weather and terrorist attacks. Vulnerable users are being warned to put their phones on silent or airplane mode ahead of the test on Sunday. Picture: Joe Giddens/PA

The Government has warned vulnerable people, including victims of human trafficking or domestic abuse, to be mindful of their phone if travelling in Northern Ireland this weekend.

The British government will this weekend test its emergency alerts service across the UK, including the North, for the first time since April 2023.

The Department of Communications has urged those in vulnerable situations — such as the victims of human trafficking or those in abusive relationships, who may have secret phones for the sake of their own safety — to ensure those units are rendered silent at about 3pm this coming Sunday, September 7, when the alert is due.

“Anybody in this position who would prefer if their phone did not sound, should turn their phone off or switch it to airplane mode,” a department spokesperson said. 

People near the Border may get alert

The system was launched in March 2023 and is designed to warn all UK citizens simultaneously of important events — including threats to public safety such as extreme weather, severe flooding, a terror attack, or missing persons cases.

The department said that, as happened during the previous test two years ago, people living in or visiting the various counties bordering Northern Ireland may receive an alert in the form of a message followed by an audio alert and a vibration of up to 10 seconds.

The alert “will look and sound different to other types of messages” such as text messages, a spokesperson said. They explained that the alert will be received by all phones within the geographical area regardless of whether or not the phone or device is set to silent.

Likewise, a phone disconnected from wifi or mobile data will still receive the alert as it operates through cellular networks and not via data plans.

Safety alerts — and false alarms

Such alerts have been used frequently over the past decade by other countries, notably in the US where California has used the system to warn the public of wildfires.

On another occasion, in Hawaii in 2018, a state-wide alert informed phone owners that a ballistic missile attack was imminent — a warning that fortunately turned out to be a false alarm.

The system was also used internationally during the covid pandemic to inform the public about curfews, stay-at-home orders, and the availability of vaccinations.

The test in 2023 highlighted a number of technical issues, with some receiving the warning more than once and others not receiving it at all.

Sunday’s message will inform the public that it is a “test of emergency alerts, a UK government service that will warn you if you there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby”.