Around 1,000 schools in Scotland received threatening emails on Wednesday 11 November 2026, prompting precautionary evacuations in some areas. Police Scotland assessed the bomb threats as hoaxes and said there was no reason to keep pupils away from school solely because of the messages.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland said the emails had been sent to schools across the UK and that enquiries had found nothing to suggest a credible threat or any wider danger to the public. Police Scotland’s statement said its Cyber and Fraud Unit was working to establish where the messages originated.
Why were pupils told to attend school as normal?
Police Scotland advised that there was no requirement to evacuate schools or keep children away from education based solely on the emails. The assessment followed checks by officers, and the force said the threats did not represent a credible danger.
The advice did not mean schools were told to ignore suspicious activity. It meant that the threatening emails, by themselves, did not justify keeping pupils at home once the police assessment had been made.
Which schools were affected?
In the Highland Council area, 196 schools received the email. The council said most took precautionary steps to evacuate while waiting for police advice. Some reopened later that day, while others could not practically bring pupils back after they had already gone home. Highland Council said it expected all schools to open as normal on Thursday 12 November.
In Edinburgh, schools were temporarily evacuated as a precaution. The City of Edinburgh Council subsequently reassured families that the threats were not credible and that there was no need to keep children off school.
Threats were also reported in Fife, Perth and Kinross and other parts of Scotland. Police put the Scottish total at around 1,000 schools contacted, rather than 1,000 schools evacuated. STV reported that police were keeping an open mind about whether the incident was linked to earlier threats against Scottish schools.
Threatening emails also reached Northern Ireland and Europe
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said more than 300 schools had reported receiving the same threatening email. Its enquiries indicated the email originated outside the UK and was being treated as a hoax.
Separately, Reuters reported that around 6,300 schools in Italy received bomb warnings on 11 November, with hundreds evacuated. Schools in the Republic of Ireland also received threatening communications which authorities considered not credible. Although the incidents occurred during the same period, the full extent of any coordination between them has not been established.
Who sent the hoax threats?
The sender or senders have not been publicly identified. Police Scotland’s Cyber and Fraud Unit is investigating the origin of the emails and liaising with police partners in the UK and internationally. Northern Ireland police said the message they examined came from outside the UK, but that does not establish who was responsible.
Earlier in November, Fish 4 News reported on hoax bomb alerts affecting seven flights across Europe. There is no confirmed link between those aviation incidents and the school emails.
Sources
- Police Scotland: statement on threatening messages to schools
- Highland Council: impact on 196 schools and reopening advice
- City of Edinburgh Council: precautionary evacuations and reassurance
- Police Service of Northern Ireland: threatening emails reported by more than 300 schools
- ABC News (Reuters): school bomb hoaxes in Italy, the UK and Ireland
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