Police forces, ambulance services, and fire and rescue teams across the UK urged people not to phone 999 for more than an hour on Sunday morning because of a “technical fault”.
The issue was confirmed shortly after 8.30am, but at 9.52am, BT announced that its back-up platform was “now working” and confirmed people should call 999 “as usual”.
While the issue was being fixed, London’s Metropolitan police – the UK’s largest force – had said many 999 calls were not connecting, and advised people to call 101 in an emergency for police and fire, or 111 in a medical emergency.
South Wales police, Essex police, Greater Manchester police and Derbyshire police were among those sharing the same post on Twitter, along with South Wales and Scotland fire and rescue.
The post said the fault had affected a “number of forces”, but did not specify which ones.
West Yorkshire police said the issue was with BT’s 999 lines and that the company was experiencing issues “all over the country”, while Northamptonshire police also described the technical fault as “nationwide”.
Northamptonshire police said BT was working to get the fault resolved “as soon as possible” and urged people to make non-emergency reports via its website.
Devon and Somerset fire and rescue service said in a Twitter post: “Following a critical technical issue that is affecting emergency services nationally, calls to 999 are not currently working.”
A spokesperson for BT said in a statement: “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.”
Shortly after 10am, Cumbria police said they were once again receiving 999 calls after the technical fault and told people to call 999 in an emergency, while the Metropolitan police also said the system had been “restored”.
Dorset police said they had received an update from BT that 999 calls could “now be taken”, but urged those still experiencing trouble getting through to call 101 in an emergency.
