Scotland to take part in UK trial of Emergency Mobile Phone Alerts warning system
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A new Emergency Alert mobile phone warning service will be launched across the UK today, Sunday March 19.
Scotland will take part in a trial of a UK Government system which will use new mobile broadcasting technology to save lives during emergencies.
A test message will be issued to mobile phones across the UK, including in Scotland, as part of a UK-wide test of the service on Sunday, April 23.
Using new mobile broadcasting technology, the system will provide a way to issue urgent messages to nearly 90 per cent of mobile phones in a specific area when there is a risk to life during an emergency, providing clear instructions about how to respond.
Justice Secretary and lead Minister for resilience Keith Brown said: “This new service builds on the arrangements we already have in place with responders and other key organisations in Scotland to keep people safe during emergencies and save lives.
“The system has already been used successfully overseas in other countries including New Zealand, the Netherlands, Japan and the USA where it has been credited with saving lives during severe weather events and earthquakes.
“During rare events where there is an imminent risk to life, alerts can be sent direct to people’s mobile phones with clear instructions explaining what action to take and how to seek help.”
The alerts will only ever come from the Government or emergency services, and they will issue a warning, always include the details of the area impacted, and provide instructions about how best to respond - linking to gov.uk/alertswhere people can receive further information.
Emergency Alerts will be used very rarely - only being sent where there is an immediate risk to people’s lives - so people may not receive an alert for months, or even years.
