A siren-like alert will be sent to mobile phone users across the UK from next month.

These are the well-known, to us in Greece, emergency notifications that warn the public about extreme weather phenomena, floods, fires, etc.

Although in Greece the system has been in place for at least two years, in the United Kingdom the first test will be piloted and the first shipment will be made in the early evening of April 23rd.

The process – known to us Greeks – foresees that a message will appear on the home screens of the devices, accompanied by a loud warning sound and vibration, and will last for about 10 seconds, even if the phone is set to silent mode .

In addition to Greece, a similar wireless emergency notification system on mobile phones has been used in the USA, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands.

According to the BBC, the messages will always only come from the government or emergency services and will initially focus on the most severe weather events, with the ability to send a message to 90% of mobile phone users within the relevant area. Terrorist alerts could be added to the list of possible events.

The messages will include details of the area affected and instructions on how to react. They will only be sent when there is immediate danger to life and there are likely to be citizens who will not receive notification for months or years.

Minister Oliver Dowden told the BBC that the warnings are being sent in a “very targeted way” and apart from the trial, he hopes many people will “never hear the alert again”.

Users can turn off their notifications from their device settings. But officials say the alerts could be life-saving, advising against turning them off.