Overview
- The FOI release, obtained by the Press Association on Sunday, revealed a list of “near misses” where the Cabinet Office weighed using Emergency Alerts but stood them down.
- Officials considered sending alerts during the August 2024 unrest that followed the Southport murders, which government analysis later said was largely driven by far‑right groups.
- An alert to order a boil‑water notice for about 40,000 people in Brixham, Devon, was discussed in May 2024 after cryptosporidium contaminated the local supply and left hundreds ill, with some hospitalised.
- A nationwide warning was reviewed in January 2026 over debris from a Chinese Zhuque‑3 rocket, which the Cabinet Office judged very unlikely to hit the UK before it fell far south of New Zealand.
- Alerts were also considered when Northern Ireland’s Kilroot power station neared its legal running limit in 2025 and during severe flooding in parts of northern England in 2025 and Storm Babet in 2023, reflecting the policy to reserve messages for clear threats to life.