Schools Across Scotland Evacuated After Hoax Bomb Threat Emails

Updated 14:42 UTC: Italy evacuates hundreds of schools as the same hoax emails spread south

The same hoax bomb campaign reached Italy on Wednesday, and the disruption there was larger than in Britain or Ireland. Reuters reported in an updated dispatch that around 6,300 schools in Italy received bomb warnings, that schools closed swiftly after the warnings arrived, and that many parents left what they were doing to collect their children.

Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told the La7 television channel that at least 300 schools were affected, and that the number could rise, Al Jazeera reported. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the bomb alerts posed no danger, Reuters reported. Al Jazeera reported that she stressed there was no indication of any concrete danger to Italian schools, that investigations were under way, and that a meeting of government ministers had been convened.

A copy of the message seen by Reuters was signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan," and also included a threat to target Prime Minister Meloni. Reuters reported that the same purported author claimed responsibility for email bomb threats sent on Friday to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the threats were part of a clear strategy "to spread fear and create anxiety," according to the Adnkronos news agency, reported by Reuters. He added: "It is not always the work of foreign countries or hostile entities."

Antonello Giannelli, head of the Italian School Principals Association, said the alerts were upsetting for students, families and school staff, and that the consequences of incidents that alarm whole school communities should not be underestimated, Reuters reported. Reuters also reported that some European officials suspect Russia may be behind a campaign of disruption in European countries that support Ukraine, that Russia denies that and accuses the West of a smear campaign, and that Iran rejected French accusations over a separate supermarket cyberattack as baseless. No source in the reports above established who sent the school emails.

Updated 11:36 UTC: Ireland and Northern Ireland schools also hit by the same hoax emails

Police in Ireland and Northern Ireland gave their own assessments later on Wednesday morning. An Garda Siochana said it is aware of a generic communication sent to a number of educational establishments in Ireland on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. The Roscommon Herald reported that gardai assessed the threat as not credible and are not advising any educational establishment to evacuate. The Department of Education and Youth issued guidance to all schools saying there is no need to evacuate, because the messages are generic email threats. Schools that received the email were asked to contact gardai and follow their advice.

In Northern Ireland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said it is conducting urgent inquiries after a threatening email was sent to schools across Northern Ireland. The Press Association reported, via Farming Life, that the email is understood to have been sent to more than 300 schools. The Education Authority said the message has similarities with a bogus threat sent last month, which police declared a hoax, and said: "At this stage, we have not been made aware of any evidence of any credible threat to schools." A message sent to parents at one school, seen by the Press Association, said the school had been advised there was no credible threat and would stay open after a check of the premises.

The Irish Sun reported that schools in Carlow, Kilkenny, Cork and Dublin were among those in Ireland that received the threatening email and were evacuated, and that a school in Cork said the message claimed a bomb was hidden in a plastic bag. Gardai said they are engaging with a number of educational establishments. The earlier Police Scotland assessment, that the messages are hoaxes with nothing to suggest a credible threat, stands at the top of this article.

Schools across Scotland were evacuated on Wednesday morning after threatening messages were sent to schools in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK. Police Scotland said the messages were assessed at once and are being treated as hoaxes.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "On Wednesday, 11 November 2026, threatening messages were sent to a number of schools in Scotland and across the UK. These messages were immediately assessed and are being treated as hoaxes. Our enquiries have established that there is nothing to suggest that they represent a credible threat or that there is any wider threat to the public."

Police said there is no requirement to evacuate schools or keep children away from education based solely on the content of the emails. The force said its Cyber and Fraud Unit is carrying out extensive enquiries to establish the source of the messages, and that officers continue to liaise with law enforcement partners across the UK and internationally.

Evacuations from Edinburgh to the Highlands

Despite the police advice, several schools emptied their buildings or sent pupils home while staff checked what had arrived. In Edinburgh, St Augustine, Broughton and Currie high schools were evacuated, Edinburgh Live reported, and pupils at the Royal High School were asked to take an extended break. Schools in West Lothian also received the email. A West Lothian Council spokesperson said a number of its schools had received a threatening email that morning, as had schools across the country, and that police had assured the council there was no imminent risk and had advised schools to continue with their day as planned. West Lothian schools therefore stayed open.

Further north, Invergordon Academy in the Highlands told parents it would close for the remainder of the day and that pupils would be sent home with immediate effect. Nairn Academy was also evacuated, with parents told the school had an emergency closure and pupils would be sent home. In Kinross, pupils waited outside under foil blankets to keep warm after leaving their classrooms. Officers were seen outside Park Primary School in Dumfries and Galloway. Parents at Leslie Primary School in Fife were told that hundreds of schools had received a threatening email, and Our Lady's Catholic Primary School in Perth was also evacuated.

Second nationwide wave in recent weeks

This is the second nationwide bomb threat to hit schools in Scotland in recent weeks. On October 19, 2026, schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland received similar threatening emails, and police in both places treated those messages as hoaxes while officers investigated. No device was found in that earlier wave.

Police have not said who sent the latest messages, where they came from, or how many schools received them in total. Parents were told to contact their local authority for information about specific schools. The investigation by the Cyber and Fraud Unit is continuing.