The government will test the UK’s Emergency Alert System again in 2025, causing everyone’s phone to make an alarm sound.

The system has already sounded four times for real since its first test in 2023, warning of two separate bomb threats in Plymouth in February 2024, flooding in Cumbria in April 2024, and warning those hit worst by Storm Darragh in December 2024.

The alarm is used to warn people of serious danger to life. Some people are speculating that the plan for another test could be connected to the conflict between Iran and Israel, as the US gets involved with the missile strikes between the two countries.

However, it’s worth noting that the government said the previous test was unconnected to current events and there’s no evidence that this one is any different.

The British public can likely expect a similar test every two years from now on, with the last test being in 2023.

When will the next emergency alert test happen?

The exact date and time has not been confirmed, although it’s thought to happen at some point in 2025.

For the test in 2023, the government did tell people when to expect the test, so we will find out when it will take place in the near future.

Your phone will make a loud noise, even if your device is set to silent, accompanied by a heavy vibration as well. It will sound different from your usual notification noise.

The noise and vibration are accompanied by a message. In a real alert, it has information about the danger to life and advice on what to do.

During a test, the last message read: “This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK Government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.

“In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe. Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information.”

If you don’t want to receive the alerts, you can turn them off. For Apple devices, you can go to ‘Settings’, ‘Notifications’, and then scroll down to the bottom where it says ‘Extreme and severe alerts’. Tap the toggle to either turn them on or off.

For Android phones, go to ‘Settings’, search ’emergency alerts’, then turn off alerts for extreme and severe threats.

This won’t just turn off test alerts but also real ones, so it’s worth noting that this could mean you miss out on life-saving warnings and information.