From October, people in Britain will be sent emergency messages directly to their smartphones to warn them of life-threatening incidents like floods, storms, wildfires and terror attacks.

In events such as the London Bridge terror attack, an emergency alert message may be sent out.All switched on smartphones will receive the alerts and a "welcome" message in October once the system is officially launched.

Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse has announced the new scheme will be useful for the Government to "warn people much more comprehensively" about imminent danger.The alerts are designed to fill the screen of people's mobile phones and the phone itself will vibrate as well as emit a unique sound.Details of the specific emergency, along with advice on what to do next and how to seek help will appear.

The police and emergency services will contact the Cabinet Office's 24-hour situation centre to request a message to be sent.Similar systems are already in place in other countries such as Canada, the US, Japan, Greece and Italy and France. France only implemented this system in June. Mr Malthouse told The Times that some warnings may be targeted to people in particular areas where the danger is more imminent.

"For example, if we think there's a major storm heading for a particular area, and we think it's of a level of severity where there will be a threat to life, we're able to use this on the path of the storm to warn people that it's coming," he said.

"Because it's geographically specific and it depends what mobile phone mast you're connected to, we are able to decide in particular areas that there is going to be a threat to life, people need to be alerted, and ping this message through to them."