Why will some Irish phones be triggered by the UK's Emergency Alert this weekend?

The Irish Government has advised that some people may receive the planned UK emergency alert text this weekend.

The UK will be testing its Emergency Alerts service on Sunday, 7 September at 3pm which will see residents across Britain and Northern Ireland receive a message on their phone followed by an audio alert and a vibration lasting up to ten seconds.

The service allows the UK Government to send out an alert to all phones across the UK in the case of a life-threatening emergency such as an extreme weather event. 

The UK Government first launched this system in March 2023 and tested it in April of that year. During this initial test, people visiting Northern Ireland and some living in border counties received the emergency alert on their phones.

This Sunday 7th Sept at 3 pm the UK Government will test its emergency alert system. Those located in border counties may receive the alert and phones may vibrate for up to 10 seconds.
There is no cause for concern, and no action required.

See: https://t.co/60dKjBzE8v pic.twitter.com/RfHkL6LLVo

— Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (@DeptCultureIRL) September 3, 2025

The Department of Communications has warned that those living in this region can again expect the possibility of receiving the emergency alerts on Sunday, as well as those visiting the areas. Anyone still connected to mobile networks based south of the border will not get the alert.

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For those who have not received the alert before, the Department has said that the "emergency alert will look and sound different to other types of messages such as SMS text messages." 

The alert will still ring out even if the phone is set to 'silent' or 'do not disturb' mode and phones do not need a WiFi connection or mobile data to receive it either.

With this in mind, the Department stated: "Vulnerable people, including victims of human trafficking and domestic abuse, may carry hidden phones for personal safety reasons. Anybody in this position who would prefer if their phone did not sound, should turn their phone off or switch it to airplane mode."

They have reassured that if anyone does receive one of these emergency alerts, "there is no cause for concern, and no action is needed."