What is France's 'Fr-Alert' system and when is it used?

After the devastating floods in Spain, we look at the alert system in place for France, called Fr-Alert.

It has been in operation since June 2022 in both mainland France and France's overseas territories. 

It is used to warn people of different kinds of emergencies in specific areas, from storms to terror attacks. 

An alert is sent to all mobile phones within an affected area at the same time. 

They receive a notification detailing the warning, accompanied by a high-pitched noise and vibration, even if the phone is on silent. 

The message will inform people they are in a danger zone and give advice on how best to act to stay safe. 

People do not have to download an app or sign up for the alerts, the idea is that they will be sent to all phones across all mobile phone networks.

The system was trialled in the south of France at the beginning of this year.

 Read more: What to do if you live near Mediterranean and missed tsunami SMS alert

List of Fr-Alerts

Fr-Alert can be used to warn of a range of incidents, according to its official website, including:

• Natural disasters (floods, storms, fires etc)
  
• Biological and chemical events (pollution, gas leaks, nuclear incidents etc)
• Health (epidemics, pandemics, agri-food incidents etc) 
• Technological and industrial events (breakdown of telecommunications, serious road, rail or air accidents, industrial incidents) 
• Serious public safety incidents such as terror attacks 
  
• Authorities regularly carry out tests of the system to iron out technical issues. 

Read more: What to do - and not do - in a red or orange weather alert in France

Receiving urgent messages

The alert is sent out by the mobile networks over the 4G or 5G internet. Delays are not uncommon – sometimes the users of a particular network receive a delayed message, other times the sheer number of alerts being sent at once means some delays are experienced. 

“Depending on the brand of mobile phone, the operator and the location where you are when the alert is sent, different notification reception times may be observed,” according to the official Fr-Alert website. 

Phones will not receive a message if they are switched off, on flight mode or if it is a non-French phone and data roaming is turned off. 

An alert will usually detail: the nature of the threat, which authority is issuing the alert, the location of the danger, what actions to take (e.g. stay at home, leave the area), and if applicable, a link to an official website where people can get more information.