Emergency Alerts
On 23 of April at 3pm there will be a national test of the Emergency Alerts service. These alerts are designed to notify you if there is a danger to life nearby, this could be related to extreme weather warnings. Our concern at Refuge is for survivors that have hidden phones within the home, we are advising survivors to opt of receiving the alerts on their hidden device, you can still receive warning messages on your device that is not hidden.
To opt out please follow our video for guidance or follow the steps below. If you are concerned that somebody is monitoring the device you are using, please do follow the instructions on our ‘secure your tech’ guides or contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
Make sure it is safe before you start the step-by-step guide
Remember that some actions you take to increase your security or privacy might alert an abuser, and they might escalate their abusive behaviour.
If you haven’t yet, read our safety information.
Steps to secure your iPhone
- To opt out, search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’ and turn off Severe alerts and Emergency alerts.
- If this does not work, contact your device manufacturer. Log out each time.
- For further advice go to gov.uk/alerts/opt-out.
You can also watch our step-by-step guide on YouTube.
Steps to secure your Android
- To opt out, search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’ and turn off Severe alerts and Emergency alerts.
- On Huawei devices running EMUI 11 or older, search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’ and please turn off “Extreme threats”, “Severe threats” and “Show amber alerts”
- If this does not work, contact your device manufacturer.
You can also watch our step-by-step guide on YouTube.