An alert test with sirens in Norway happens twice a year: at 12 on the second Wednesday of January and June. Then the mobile phone and the sirens sound simultaneously across the entire country. It is a planned test, not a danger.
Alert test with sirens in Norway: twice a year
The Civil Defence and Police test the alert systems at 12:00 on the second Wednesday of January and June. The test is announced in advance, and you should not do anything.
The rule is stated on the website of DSB (Direktoratet for samfunnssikkerhet og beredskap). The signal tested is "Important message – seek information". The air-raid siren is never used in an alert test.
Tests from recent years:
- 8 January 2025
- 11 June 2025
- 14 January 2026
- 10 June 2026
According to the rule, the next test falls on Wednesday 13 January 2027 at 12:00. As of 29 July 2026, DSB has not announced the date, so check dsb.no or nodvarsel.no in good time before.
The Police send the test on mobile, and Civil Defence tests the sirens at the same time. If you want to skip the alert on your phone, you can put it in airplane mode from 11:55 to 12:15. You will hear the sirens outside anyway. This is how the test sounded on 10 June 2026:
"This is a TEST of Emergency Alert, the government's alert system for serious events. A real alert gives you information about what is happening and what you should do to protect yourself. Today the Police are testing Emergency Alert. You do not need to do anything."
If you want to prepare for real events, see our guide to emergency preparedness for at least seven days.
What is emergency alert on mobile?
Emergency alert is the government's alert sent directly to your mobile phone. You do not need an app or registration, and it is free.
DSB owns and operates Emergency Alert. The Police send alerts in peacetime, and Civil Defence can send them during war.
The system does not use your phone number or other information about you. The alert is sent as a radio signal from the mobile mast, and neither the authorities nor the mobile operator know who receives it. Prepaid cards and foreign SIM cards receive alerts in the same way.
The phone vibrates and plays a loud sound even if the sound is turned off. The alert requires 4G or 5G coverage, and you must have Android 11 or newer, or iPhone 8 with iOS 16.2 or newer. DSB estimated in June 2026 that around 97 percent of mobile phones in active use in Norway can receive Emergency Alert.
National Communications Authority (Nkom) recommends that family members choose subscriptions with different mobile operators. That way there is a greater chance that at least one in the family has coverage.
"Why did I get the emergency alert in English?"
Because the alert is sent in Norwegian and English as two separate messages. You receive both, but the phone determines which one appears at the top.
DSB writes that the English message often ends up at the top on iPhone. Many have therefore believed that they only received the alert in English. Scroll down in the alert list, and you will find the Norwegian one as well. All previous alerts are on nodvarsel.no, with an English version on emergencyalert.no.
The alert itself exists only in Norwegian and English. But information about the system exists in many more languages: DSB published in June 2026 posters and information sheets about Emergency Alert in 22–23 languages, including Ukrainian, Arabic, Russian, Somali, Dari, Pashto, Tigrinya and Polish. The files are on dsb.no under "Emergency alert on mobile" — print the sheet in your own language.
The three siren signals and what they mean
The sirens have three signals, and only one of them is about attack. What is tested twice a year is "Important message – seek information".
| Signal | Sound | Means | What you do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Important message – seek information | Three series with one minute's pause between | The authorities have information for you | Seek information on NRK P1, radio, TV or online. Used in peace and war |
| Air-raid siren | Short bursts for about one minute | Danger of attack | Seek shelter at once |
| Danger is over | Continuous sound for about half a minute | Danger is over | Normal activity, follow further information |
There are approximately 1,250 siren facilities in Norway, mostly in cities and towns, and the signals can be heard by more than half the population. During the test on 14 January 2026, 1,130 facilities were tested, and uptime was 89 percent — Civil Defence explained the failure with cold and frost. If you hear no siren, it does not necessarily mean everything is safe.
The sound files are openly available on sivilforsvaret.no. If a siren is triggered by mistake, report it to the nearest Civil Defence district.
The siren sounds – what do you do?
Stop, read or listen to the alert, and follow the advice. "Important message – seek information" means you should find information, not that you should run out.
NRK P1 is the emergency channel, and NRK can break through with important messages on all its radio channels. DSB recommends a battery-operated DAB radio. In tunnels with DAB transmission, the message comes on all channels, and signs with the radio symbol light up.
An emergency alert gives you one of three standard advisories:
- "Seek information and follow advice from the authorities" — use sources you trust. Some may have an interest in spreading misinformation.
- "Close doors, windows and air vents, shut off ventilation and stay inside" — relevant in case of radioactive radiation, toxic smoke or gas.
- "Get to safety" — seek shelter where you are.
If the air-raid siren sounds, seek shelter first and information after. Stay where you are, and do not travel to find a shelter. If the building has no shelter, go down to the cellar or into a room in the middle of the building, away from windows. Civil Defence also writes that there is a small likelihood of war and air attacks on the civilian population in Norway. You use the emergency numbers only in case of acute danger to life and health — see the guide to 113, 116 117 and your doctor.
Shelters in Norway: how to find the nearest one
No one in Norway is assigned a specific shelter. You use the nearest public shelter, or the private shelter in the building you are in. There is no prioritization of who is allowed in.
Civil Defence reports nearly 19,000 shelters with capacity for nearly 2.5 million people: approximately 18,000 private shelters with 2.2 million places, and approximately 600 public shelters with 300,000 places. DSB writes "around 20,000" on its own pages. The figure is thus around 19,000–20,000, and the two government websites are not consistent (checked 29 July 2026).
This is how the shelters work in practice:
- Not ready for use today, but shall be able to be prepared on 72 hours' notice.
- In peacetime they are used for other purposes — DSB mentions archives and practice rooms for music.
- Each person gets 0.6 m² of free floor space.
- The owner must provide water for at least six hours. Food, medicine, warm clothes and hygiene articles you bring yourself.
- Animals are not allowed, except for guide dogs and service dogs.
- About 50 municipalities have no shelters. No new ones have been built since 1998.
DSB's map of public shelters shows only the approximately 600 public shelters. These are marked from the street, while private shelters are marked inside the building — look for the sign where you live and work. Private shelters are never shown on public maps, in the interests of national security (Public Administration Act § 21).
If you find nothing in the map, ask your municipality — the municipality must inform residents. There is not room for everyone, so municipalities must also have evacuation plans. A proposal for new regulations on "shelters" was out for consultation on 19 June 2026, so the rules may change.
Talk to the children before the next alert test
Enter the date in your calendar and prepare the children in good time. Then the sound will be a familiar test instead of a frightening surprise.
Play the siren sound at home while everything is calm, and explain that the sound in Norway almost always means "seek information". Show the DSB sheet in your own language.
Emergency preparedness, Civil Defence and the municipality's responsibility are also part of social studies in Norway. SamfunnPrep explains such rules in simple language — feel free to take a free test in social knowledge at SamfunnPrep.
