Issues remain with 999 emergency system

Callers to the 999 call system may still experience delays.

People unable to connect to 999 to report an emergency should call 101.

A technical fault hit the UK-wide 999 service around 8.30am this morning, preventing many calls from getting through.

Some disruption continued after switching over to a backup system at lunchtime.

Normal location services are unavailable on the temporary platform which means the caller’s whereabouts are not automatically identified.

Callers can assist by having the address of the emergency ready. If the address is unknown giving the name of the village or street, or a nearby landmark would be helpful.

A Scottish Government statement said: "There is a technical issue with the 999 call system which may cause some delays.

“The back-up system for 999/112 is fully operational and genuine emergencies should continue to call these numbers.

“Any issues call 101 for police and fire and rescue services, or 111 for health.”

The issue affected all emergency services such as police, ambulance, fire and coastguard.

The UK-wide 999 number is operated by BT which then direct calls to individual forces.

A BT spokesperson said: “Earlier today we experienced a technical fault that impacted our primary 999 lines and we defaulted to our back-up system.

“The issue is ongoing, but we do know it was caused by a technical fault.

“Our engineers and technical experts are working hard to determine the cause, but our priority is getting the primary 999 lines up and running as soon as possible.

“As with all critical national infrastructure, we can’t share technical information on how the system works or give details on the architecture of the back-up solution.”

Issues with 999 emergency number may still ‘cause some delays’

25 June 2023