Air raid alert colours — what yellow, red and white mean

Official air raid warnings in Lithuania are graded by colour. The colour tells you how quickly you have to act.

Warnings are issued by the state, not by this site. You get them as an LT-Alert message on your phone, you hear sirens, and they are published by LRT and lt72.lt. This page only explains what the colours mean and shows the last status it knows about.

Yellow — an alert is possible

An air raid alert may follow: a threat could reach the area. It is not time to take cover yet; it is time to get ready.

• Charge your phone. Keep documents, water and medicines within reach.
• Find out where your nearest shelter is.
• Follow official announcements. Do not start a long journey.

Official announcements call this level a probable air raid alert; the app shows it as alert possible. It is the same yellow level.

Red — air raid alert

An alert has been announced. Act now.

• Go to a shelter, or to the safest room you can reach: a basement, an underground car park, a corridor with no windows.
• Follow the two-wall rule: at least two walls between you and the outside.
• Take your phone and your documents. Keep out of the way of the emergency services.
• Stay there until the all-clear is announced.

White — the danger has passed

The alert is over. You may leave the shelter — but only once an official source says so.

• Do not go back into the open before the authorities announce it.
• If you find debris or a suspicious object, do not touch it. Call 112.

Yellow after red

Sometimes red is followed by yellow rather than white. That is not an all-clear: the threat has receded but has not passed.

Stay in the shelter until you get the white message. This is the case people misread most often.

In an emergency

Call 112. It is the only number you need — it works with no credit and from a locked phone.