Your phone will ring on April 23 – why?

On Sunday, April 23, at 3 PM, the UK goverment will perform the test of a new, Emergency Alerts service. Your phone can vibrate or ring at 3 PM on April 23 – but don’t panic, its just a test.

The test will start and end automatically and will last about 10 seconds. There’s no need to do anything, all test will be performed automatically. All UK userc of 4G and 5G phones will get the additional test alert. The timing of the test was carefully selected, to minimize the inconvenience as much as possible.

The Emergency Alerts service was designed to warn of potentially life-threatening or disruptive incidents. If there’s an incident or an emergency where there’s a risk to life, either locally or nationally, the service will send an alert to all mobile devices in the selected area. It will be a loud siren-like sound followed by further instructions. The users don’t have to do anything to receive it. The alerts are free, there’s no need to download any app. Users will get alerts based on their current location – this system has been successfully used in other countries.