The emergency alert is used to warn if there is a danger to life nearby, in instances like extreme weather.

The alert has been scheduled to take place on 7 September, in its second ever nationwide drill.

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) – which can sound an alarm through mobile phones and tablets - has been deployed four times since it was launched in 2023. It was most recently used in January this year, when 4.5m people in Scotland and Northern Ireland received the alert over Storm Eowyn.

What is the emergency alert system?

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a government service aimed at warning people if there’s a danger to life nearby. 

The system causes a mobile phone or tablet to make a loud siren-like sound that lasts about 10 seconds, even if it's set on silent, along with advice on how to stay safe and a phone number or link to the government website for more information. It may also cause a device to vibrate or read out the alert.

The alert was used in areas hit hardest by Storm Darragh this winter. Localised flash flooding in Cumbria and Leicestershire, and the discovery of a Second World War bomb in Plymouth in February 2024, also triggered the alert for nearby residents.

According to the government website, you may get alerts about: severe flooding, fires or extreme weather.

It says emergency alerts will only be sent by the emergency services or government departments, agencies and public bodies that deal with emergencies. 

"You’ll get alerts based on your current location - not where you live or work," says the website. "You do not need to turn on location services to receive alerts."

If driving or riding when you receive the alert, the advice is to not read or respond to it but to find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message.

"If there’s nowhere safe and legal to stop, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, you can listen to news on live radio to find out about the emergency," it adds.

When will the emergency alert system be sent to phones?

The emergency alert system will be tested at around 3pm on 7 September.

The national exercise that its test is part of is expected to be held on different days over several months in the autumn, involving thousands of participants across the UK. 

During the test, the UK’s approximately 87 million mobile devices will ring out with a high pitched alarm and vibrate for approximately 10 seconds, while a message will appear on the screen making it clear the alert is only a test.

Ahead of the national test, ministers are spearheading a public awareness campaign to ensure people understand when it is taking place.

How to turn off emergency alert system on iPhone and Android

It is possible to turn the emergency alert system off by opting out, for example if you are the victim of domestic abuse and have a secret phone you do not wish to alert your abuser to.

To do this on iPhone, go to ‘settings’ and in your search bar type in ‘emergency alerts’ and turn off Severe alerts and Emergency alerts.

To opt out on Android phones and tablet, search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’ then turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’. 

If this does not work on either iPhone or Android, contact the device manufacturer. By Ellen Manning, Yahoo News

Donald Trump has approved a plan to attack Iran but is yet to give a final order, White House officials said.

Mr Trump gave private instructions to military chiefs in the situation room inside the White House on Wednesday, sources told US media.

He told reporters: “I have ideas on what to do but I haven’t made a final – I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due.”

Sources said Mr Trump was waiting to see if Iran would concede to a last minute deal to end its nuclear programme before moving forward with attack plans.

Plans are likely to include the bombing of the Fordow nuclear site buried deep beneath a mountain, with the US thought to have the only weapon that could get close to destroying it – a 30,000lbs bunker busting bomb. 

Mr Trump has for days suggested that he could order such a strike on Iran, which has been engaged in a war with Israel since Friday.

He said on Wednesday: “You don’t know that I’m going to even do it. I may do it. I may not do it. Nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this: Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”

Mr Trump’s current position signals a much greater willingness to use force than a week ago when he was urging for a diplomatic approach to reach a nuclear disarmament deal with Iran.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader, rebuked Mr Trump’s earlier call for Iran to surrender in a recorded speech played on television, which was his first appearance since Friday.

He said: “Any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage. The Iranian nation will not surrender.” 

Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, said in a social media post on Wednesday that his country had “so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it”.

While he reiterated Iran’s commitment to diplomacy, he also said his country would “continue to exercise its right to self-defence”.

Iran denies that it is seeking nuclear weapons and says its program is for peaceful purposes only. The International Atomic Energy Agency said last week Tehran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for the first time in 20 years.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva to urge Iran to return to the negotiating table, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

But while diplomatic efforts continue, Iran and Israel continued to trade strikes on Thursday morning.

An Iranian strike hit a hospital in the south of Israel, injuring at least 32 people. 

Air raid sirens rang through Tel Aviv and Jerusalem about 7am local time (4am GMT), with loud blasts heard in both cities.

The military said in a post on Telegram: “A short while ago, sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel.”

Israel meanwhile struck Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television said.

The report said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had already been evacuated before the attack, which came after Israel warned it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area. By Allegra Mendelson, Telegraph / Yahoo News