A test of the national Emergency Alerts system will take place this weekend.

Test alerts will take at 3pm on Sunday (April 23) in a trial run of a system intended to be used in life-threatening situations including flooding and wildfires.

It will see people receive a message on the home screen of their mobile phone, along with a sound and vibration for up to 10 seconds, even if devices are on silent.

The message will say: “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.

“This is a test. You do not need to take any action.”

No action needs to be taken following the alert and the sound and vibration will stop automatically after 10 seconds and you can swipe the message away.

Working with mobile broadcasting technology, it will provide a means to get urgent messages quickly to nearly 90pc of mobile phones.

The government has worked together with the emergency services and partners to make sure the test has minimum impact on major events taking place on the day. 

They have also worked with organisations and charities representing vulnerable groups to make sure they are not adversely affected.

People who are subject to domestic abuse and have concealed phones can opt-out of the national test either by turning off Emergency Alerts in their phone settings or by switching their phone off.

Chief fire officer Alex Woodman said: “We must use every tool at our disposal to keep people safe, and we need everyone to play their part - and the new Emergency Alerts system is one way we can do this.

"The national test may be inconvenient for some, but it's important, because the next time you hear it - your life, and the life-saving actions of our emergency services, could depend on it.”