Emergency Alerts issued during Rivers Roe and Ive flooding

Emergency Alerts were issued to assist with evacuations during acute flooding on the Rivers Roe and Ive in May 2024, according to the UK Government Resilience Action Plan published in July 2025¹. The plan, which sets out the government's strategic approach to resilience, cites the alerts as an example of the system in use alongside alerts issued during flooding on the River Soar in January 2025¹.

The plan gives no further detail on the Roe and Ive alerts: it does not report how many alerts were sent, which areas received them, how many properties or people were affected, or the extent of the damage. Those details have not been reported in the document¹.

The same plan sets out the wider context for flooding in England. It states that 6.3 million properties in England are in areas at risk of flooding, and that the total could increase to 8 million by the middle of the century, or around one in four properties². It also records a £2.65 billion total investment for 2024/25 and 2025/26, which it says is better protecting over 52,000 properties across England through new or improved flood defences, and £4.2 billion over the first three years of a flood and coastal erosion resilience programme¹.

On the alert system itself, the plan states that a second public national test of the Emergency Alerts system will take place on 7 September, and that as with the first test in April 2023 the message will be sent to every compatible phone nationwide¹.

Why it matters for households

The Roe and Ive alerts show the Emergency Alerts system being used for its stated purpose: warning people on their phones when evacuations are needed during acute flooding¹. For households in flood risk areas, the plan's figures set the scale of exposure: 6.3 million properties in England are in areas at risk of flooding, with the total potentially rising to 8 million by the middle of the century².

The plan does not say which areas the Roe and Ive alerts covered, so it does not identify which households received them. What it does confirm is that the system is used for evacuation warnings in acute flooding, not only for the national test¹. The Emergency Alerts guide explains how the UK phone warning system works, and the flooding guide covers household preparation for flooding.

The plan also sets out the government's position that resilience is a shared responsibility. In his foreword, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the Rt Hon. Pat McFadden MP, writes that for the average person this "may involve looking out for vulnerable neighbours and stocking up on some basics like bottled water and a torch"².

What happens next

The plan states that the second public national test of the Emergency Alerts system will take place on 7 September, sent to every compatible phone nationwide, as with the first test in April 2023¹. It also states that a new 10-year flood and coastal erosion investment programme will launch in April 2026, aligned with the Infrastructure Strategy¹.

Households can check whether their phone will receive alerts in the guide on compatible phones, and how to turn alerts off or on in the guide on turning alerts off or on. The staying informed hub and the flooding hub carry further guidance.