How to turn OFF the Government's so called 'emergency alert' message

At 15:00 BST on Sunday, 23 April, an emergency alarm will sound on most smartphones across the UK.

The message will be received on 4G and 5G mobile phones and will emphasise the alert is a 'test' of a new UK Government service used in emergencies.

It will appear alongside sound and vibration for up to 10 seconds even if devices are on silent.

But how can the alarm be turned off when it sounds through your phone?

Read on below for our step-by-step guide on how to switch off the alert.

How do I turn the alarm off on my iPhone

Any iPhone users wishing to switch off the alarm should navigate to the Settings menu and press Notifications.

Once selected, users should scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the Emergency Alerts Menu.

If their phone is running on iOS 14.5 or later, users can choose to turn off both Severe alerts and Emergency alerts.

How do I turn the alarm off on my Android device?

Android users search for 'emergency alerts' in the Settings menu to turn off the alert.

Both Emergency and Severe alerts can be switched off here too, but the device must also be running on Android 11 or more recent software.

How do I turn off the alarm on my Huawei device?

Owners of Huawei devices running EMUI 11 software will be required to turn off 'Extreme threats', 'Severe threats' and 'Show amber alerts' in the Settings tab.

Labour has been campaigning for a warning system such as this for more than decade, with ministers having promised to introduce one since 2013.

The alert will not sound on your phone if it is turned off or in airplane mode.

Additionally, if you are connected to 2G, 3G or WiFi-only, your phone alarm will not sound.