T
he Metropolitan Police has confirmed that its 999 service is now working after it briefly went down due to a technical fault.
Londoners were told to call 101 in an emergency and avoid making non-urgent calls until further notice after a number of forces across the capital were impacted.
The 999 system – which is run by BT – was hit by a technical glitch on Sunday morning.
A spokesperson for BT said their back up platform is now working and people can continue calling 999 as usual. The Met Police has confirmed that services have been restored.
Forces outside of London, including South Wales Police and Greater Manchester Police, were facing the same problem.
“Until further notice, please call 101 in an emergency,” the Met Police wrote in a post on Twitter.
“Please only call in an emergency and please wait until later to make any 101 non-emergency calls.”
The following services have so far told people to call 101 in case of emergency: Greater Manchester Police, Hampshire Police, and Bedfordshire Police, West Yorkshire Police, West Midlands Police, Norfolk Police, and South Wales Police.
Bedfordshire Fire Control and Leicestershire Fire Control have also warned of the fault. It is not yet clear how many forces have been affected.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service wrote on Twitter: “Following a critical technical issue that is affecting emergency services nationally, calls to 999 are not currently working.
“Until resolved, you should contact 101 in any emergency. We will update you when it’s resolved.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has told people not to call 999 if there is a fire, but to dial their control rooms directly.
On Twitter, the service said: “The national 999 system is experiencing technical issues, many calls are not connecting.
“In the case of a fire emergency, please contact the below numbers until further notice. North: 01382 835804; East: 0131 228 1367; West: 01505 331661.”
A spokesperson for BT said: “Early this morning we experienced a problem with the 999 service. The situation is fast-moving as we fix the problem and our back up platform is now working – so people should call 999 as usual. We will provide updates as the issue is resolved.”
