Thousands of schools across Europe have received threatening emails claiming that bombs had been placed on their premises, triggering evacuations in Italy and renewed security concerns in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
More than 300 schools in Italy were evacuated on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, after receiving bomb alert messages that authorities believe were hoaxes. The warnings also reached schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, although police in those jurisdictions assessed the messages as non-credible and did not advise schools to evacuate.
The incidents form part of a wider series of threats and cyberattacks affecting public services and businesses across Europe, including supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and television broadcasters. The repeated disruptions have raised concerns about the vulnerability of everyday services to coordinated digital interference and intimidation.
Although the alerts caused considerable anxiety among parents, pupils and school staff, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was no concrete danger and confirmed that police and other public authorities were monitoring the situation.
More than 300 Italian schools evacuated
The bomb alerts prompted schools across Italy to take precautionary action, with parents rushing to collect children after receiving messages from school authorities. Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said at least 300 schools had been affected by evacuations, while reports indicated that approximately 6,300 schools had received the threatening email.
The sudden disruption left many families worried, particularly children who did not understand why they were being asked to leave their classrooms. In Rome, parents described how pupils became frightened as schools were cleared and families hurried to collect them.
Nensi Bego, whose daughter attends Mazzini middle school in Rome, said her child had started crying because pupils did not understand what was happening. She said her daughter remained shaken when she collected her, describing the incident as an unnecessary disruption to lessons and family routines.
One school in Rome informed parents through a messaging application that pupils had been moved to a safe area and were remaining under the supervision of teaching staff.
The Italian authorities treated the alerts as hoaxes, but the scale of the messages meant schools and emergency services still had to respond carefully. Even when a threat is eventually found to be false, institutions cannot simply ignore it without appropriate security checks.
Similar threats reported in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland
The threatening emails were not limited to Italy. Schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland also received similar messages originating from outside the UK.
In Northern Ireland, more than 300 schools reported receiving the threatening email. The Education Authority said it was liaising with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which assessed the message as a hoax and did not identify a credible threat requiring evacuation.
Scotland also experienced widespread disruption to school communications, with approximately 470 schools receiving similar emails. Police Scotland said its assessment found no evidence that the messages represented a credible threat or indicated a wider danger to the public. Officers from its cyber and fraud unit were making enquiries to establish where the messages originated.
In the Republic of Ireland, An Garda Síochána confirmed that a generic communication had been sent to a number of educational establishments. However, the threat was assessed as not credible, and schools were not advised to evacuate.
The different responses reflect the assessments made by authorities in each country. While Italian schools carried out evacuations, police in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland said there was no need for similar action based on the information available to them.
Who is behind the bomb threat emails?
The identity of the person or group responsible for the latest wave of messages remains unclear. According to a copy of the email seen by Reuters, the message sent to Italian schools was signed by someone claiming to be “Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan”.
The same purported sender had reportedly claimed responsibility for bomb threat emails sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria on the previous Friday. Investigators are examining the messages as authorities seek to establish whether the incidents are connected.
The threats have emerged amid wider concerns about what security officials describe as hybrid warfare. This involves using a combination of cyberattacks, disinformation, intimidation and other disruptive activities to undermine confidence in public institutions and destabilise everyday life.
Some European officials have raised suspicions about possible Russian involvement in a wider campaign targeting countries that support Ukraine following Russia’s invasion. Moscow has denied responsibility for such activities and has accused Western governments of making unfounded allegations.
Iran has also faced accusations relating to separate cyber incidents. France summoned Iran’s ambassador after accusing Tehran of involvement in a cyberattack that disrupted refrigeration systems in hundreds of French supermarkets. Iran rejected the accusations, describing them as baseless and hostile.
However, no government or state actor has been publicly established as responsible for the latest school bomb threats. The possibility of foreign involvement remains an area of concern and investigation, rather than a confirmed explanation for the incidents.
Italian officials warn against attempts to spread fear
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto described the threats as part of an apparent effort to create anxiety and disrupt normal life. Speaking to the Adnkronos news agency, he said the incidents reflected a strategy aimed at spreading fear, while also warning against assuming that every such incident must be directed by a foreign government.
Crosetto noted that individuals seeking attention or attempting to cause panic could also be responsible for threats of this nature.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the alerts posed no concrete danger and confirmed that the relevant authorities were monitoring developments. The Government was also preparing to review the situation and coordinate its response with security and intelligence officials.
Antonello Giannelli, head of the Italian School Principals Association, said the threats had caused considerable distress among pupils, parents and school employees. He warned that even when an alert is eventually identified as a hoax, the consequences for school communities should not be underestimated.
The disruption affects more than classroom lessons. Parents may have to leave work unexpectedly, schools must communicate with families, and children can experience fear and confusion when normal school activities are suddenly interrupted.
A wider pattern of cyber threats across Europe
The school alerts come against a background of other incidents involving European public services and commercial organisations. Recent threats and cyberattacks have affected supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic and broadcasters, raising questions about the security of systems that people depend on every day.
In some supermarket incidents, attackers reportedly interfered with refrigeration systems, creating the risk of food spoilage and operational disruption. Other threats have targeted media organisations and aviation, forcing authorities and businesses to take precautionary measures.
Although the incidents vary in nature, their cumulative effect has increased concern among European governments about the possibility of attacks designed to create disruption without necessarily causing physical destruction.
Schools are particularly sensitive targets because threats can quickly affect children, parents, teachers and entire communities. Even an email that contains no genuine explosive threat can lead to evacuations, missed lessons, emergency checks and significant public anxiety.
For now, investigators are continuing to examine the latest messages, while police forces across the affected countries remain in contact with relevant authorities and international partners.
What the incidents mean for families and school communities
For parents, the events are a reminder of how quickly an unverified security warning can disrupt an ordinary school day. Families in Italy faced the immediate challenge of collecting children, while schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland had to reassure parents that police did not consider the emails credible.
Authorities have urged schools and members of the public to report suspicious communications through the appropriate channels rather than spreading unverified claims. Official updates from schools, police forces and education authorities remain the most reliable sources of information when incidents of this nature occur.
The investigations will need to establish who sent the emails, whether the threats were coordinated and whether the same individuals or networks were responsible for previous incidents. Until that work is completed, claims about foreign involvement should be treated with caution.
What this means for Nigerians and other diaspora families in the UK
For Nigerian parents and other diaspora families raising children in Britain, the reports are a reminder of the importance of reliable communication between schools, parents and local authorities during security incidents. Many families rely on school messaging applications, emails and official notifications to make urgent decisions about their children’s safety, particularly when parents are working or live some distance from the school.
The latest incidents also highlight why parents should be cautious about forwarding alarming messages or unverified claims circulating in family WhatsApp groups and community social media networks. A false security warning can spread quickly, creating unnecessary panic among families who may already be worried about children attending school in an unfamiliar environment.
For Nigerian families with relatives in Italy, Ireland or elsewhere in Europe, the reports may also prompt understandable concern about loved ones studying or living in affected areas. The important distinction is that authorities in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland assessed the school emails as non-credible, while Italian schools carried out precautionary evacuations. Parents should follow updates from the relevant local police and education authorities rather than assume that every country is facing the same level of risk.
At Chijos News, we will continue to follow security developments affecting schools, families and communities across the UK and Europe, with particular attention to the practical information diaspora households need when incidents disrupt everyday life.