The trial, taking place on Sunday 23 April, will see Scotland — alongside Northern Ireland, Wales, and England — send an emergency warning message to mobile phone users across the country as part of a UK-wide test. The alert will appear on the home screens of mobile phones, with an audible warning sound and vibration accompanying it.

Making use of “new mobile broadcasting technology,” the Emergency Alerts system delivers urgent messages to 90% of mobile users within a targeted area, and provides them with guidance on how to respond. The message will also come with a gov.uk/alerts link, where more information regarding the situation can be found.

In a statement, the UK Government said that the Emergency Alerts would be used “very rarely,” and some people may not see an alert themselves for months if not years, considering that they’ll only be used when there’s an immediate, known threat to people’s lives.

Initially, the use of Emergency Alerts is set to be focused on serious weather-related events.

The new Emergency Alerts system was officially launched in the UK on 19 March, with some localised tests having previously been carried out in the UK in England.

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On the Emergency Alerts system, Justice Secretary and lead Minister for resilience, Keith Brown, said: “This new service builds on the arrangements we already have in place with responders and other key organisations in Scotland to keep people safe during emergencies and save lives.

“The system has already been used successfully overseas in other countries including New Zealand, the Netherlands, Japan and the USA where it has been credited with saving lives during severe weather events and earthquakes.

“During rare events where there is an imminent risk to life, alerts can be sent direct to people’s mobile phones with clear instructions explaining what action to take and how to seek help.”

Oliver Dowden, MP and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, also commented: “We are strengthening our national resilience with a new emergency alerts system, to deal with a wide range of threats – from flooding to wild fires.

“It will revolutionise our ability to warn and inform people who are in immediate danger, and help us keep people safe. As we’ve seen in the U.S. and elsewhere, the buzz of a phone can save a life.”