Emergency alerts on your phone, and why the lists still say radio

How the alert arrives, country by country

In most countries the warning reaches your phone the way a radio signal reaches a radio: the masts in the area broadcast it, and every compatible phone in range shows it. There is no app and no sign-up, and in the UK’s words the government doesn’t need to know your phone number.¹ In the EU the law is behind it: since June 2022, member states with a public warning system have had to get its warnings to mobile users through the networks, or through an app if it reaches people as well.²

The exceptions matter if you live there or are going. Switzerland is the one country in the tables where the phone channel is an app: without Alertswiss installed, the phone gets nothing.¹⁴ Italy’s IT-alert needs no app either, but the Civil Protection Department says that on a silent phone the alert may arrive without its sound.¹⁷ Mexico’s alerts by mobile phone are the one system whose government tells you to switch on the wireless alerts setting yourself.¹⁸ Ireland has no cell broadcast yet: the government expects to bring one in during 2027.¹⁹ Sweden’s SE-Alert is being rolled out in stages through 2026, and its messages go out in Swedish at first.²⁰²¹

What to switch on, and before you travel

No system promises that the alert will reach you. A phone that is off, in flight mode or out of coverage gets nothing, and the lists of other reasons are long: no alerts on 2G or 3G in the UK and the Netherlands,¹¹⁶ none through a VPN in the US,³ and perhaps none when the towers are damaged or the power is down in New Zealand.⁹ New Zealand’s advice is the one to keep: if you feel your life is in danger, don’t wait for an official warning.⁹

Step by step

1. Check the phone’s alert settings

   On Android they sit under “Safety and emergency”, on an iPhone under “Notifications”, as Austria’s page says. Leave the top levels on, and keep the software up to date: the UK, Germany, Austria and Spain all name a minimum version.^1311210

2. Leave the practice alerts on

   The Dutch government says that if you turn off its practice messages, you also lose the real NL-Alert.¹⁶

3. Install the national app where there is one

   Alertswiss in Switzerland, where it is the only phone channel;¹⁴ NINA in Germany, which the BBK still recommends alongside cell broadcast.¹²

4. Before a trip, check the destination

   Visitors get the alerts: the US says so for roaming phones, Austria for holidaymakers, Australia for phones without an Australian SIM.⁴¹³²² Check the language, which may be the local one only, and whether the country needs an app.

5. Keep a radio and batteries

   Battery or wind-up, for when the phone network or the power is gone.²³²⁴

Near a border, the phone may pick the wrong mast. The Netherlands lists a German or Belgian mast as one reason for a missed NL-Alert.¹⁶ And Germany doesn’t send the all-clear by cell broadcast,¹² so the end of a warning reaches you by radio, app or siren.

Why the lists still say battery radio

Almost every official kit list names a battery or wind-up radio, and Germany’s civil protection office gives the reason plainly.

Some countries name the station. Austria’s warning and alarm sirens both tell you to switch on ORF; Sweden’s tell you to listen to Sveriges Radio P4; Australia calls the ABC its official national emergency broadcaster.²⁵²¹⁷ In the US, NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts the National Weather Service’s warnings around the clock, though it needs a special receiver or scanner to pick up the signal.²⁶ Switzerland says a general alarm is always followed by information on the radio and Alertswiss, and recommends keeping a transistor radio with spare batteries.²⁷ The UK adds a practical step: write down the frequencies of the stations you listen to for news, before the power goes.²³

When the system is tried out

Several countries sound their systems on fixed days, so a practice alert on one of them is no cause for alarm.

• Germany: the national alert day, usually the second Thursday in September, with a practice warning at about 11:00.²⁸
• Netherlands: an NL-Alert practice message every June and December, around noon.²⁹
• Switzerland: the sirens are sounded on the first Wednesday in February at 13:30.³⁰
• Sweden: sirens at 15:00 on the first Monday of March, June, September and December that isn’t a public holiday.²¹
• Austria: once a year, a nationwide siren drill with an AT-Alert alongside it.²⁵
• UK: occasional operator alerts, with “operator” in the title and no action needed; most phones won’t get one.³¹
• Chile: weekly practice alerts, commune by commune.³²

For Spain, what to do when an ES-Alert arrives during a fire is in a wildfire evacuation bag.

The radio goes on the same shelf

A radio is one line of a kit; the others are in the go bag list, and the two that get forgotten, cash and copies of your papers, in how much cash to keep at home. If it’s the power that has gone, the next question is the food, and that one has a clock: how long the fridge and freezer keep food in a power cut. In a kit, the food is the part that keeps: a single Chicken & Rice is one meal, the One-Day Ration one day, the 72-Hour Food Reserve 3 days.

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72-Hour Food Reserve

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