A test of the UK government’s new Emergency Alerts system will be carried out in Reading on 29th June between 1-2pm.

It is part of a series of tests being conducted to understand the effectiveness of the system – designed to contact people in emergencies such as severe flooding or terror attacks.

Emergency Alerts are sent to all compatible mobile phones within an area of risk. They don’t track your location, need your phone number, or collect personal data. Only the government and the emergency services will be able to send such alerts.

If you don’t have a mobile phone, you’ll still be kept informed of an emergency through other channels.

What to expect

If you receive an Emergency Alert on your phone, you will hear a loud, siren-like sound. A message on your screen will tell you about the emergency and how best to respond. You will be able to check an alert is genuine at gov.uk/alerts.

You do not need to anything in response to the test alert on 29th June. However, please read any future Emergency Alerts carefully and follow the instructions in the alert.

After the test, you may be asked to complete a user survey at gov.uk/alerts. This is to gather and respond to feedback and make improvements to the Emergency Alerts system.

You can find more about Emergency Alerts at gov.uk/alerts