No signal on a hike abroad: how to still reach emergency services

What SOS on the status bar is telling you

When an iPhone shows SOS or SOS only, Apple explains, it is not connected to your own network but emergency calls may still go through other carriers' networks. Apple lists that particular behaviour for Australia, Canada and the United States, but its emergency guide adds a wider point: even if your normal network is not available, dialling the local emergency number may still work, so it is worth trying before anything else.

No Service or Searching is a different message: the phone has found no network at all. That is the moment to move rather than keep redialling. Walk uphill, out of a gorge or away from the trees, and try again. If you are travelling with a data eSIM, remember that it carries data only: calls, including emergency calls, go out through the phone itself and your usual line, which is why it is worth leaving that line switched on even when its data roaming is off.

112: free, and it can send your location by itself

The European Commission describes 112 as the emergency number available everywhere in the EU, free of charge from fixed and mobile phones. It reaches the same services as each country's own numbers, so a visitor never needs to learn them.

Phones can also share where you are. Android phones and iPhones from iOS 11.3 support Advanced Mobile Location, which sends the position worked out by the phone to the emergency centre during the call, if that centre is set up to receive it. Google describes its version, Emergency Location Service, as used only when you call or text an emergency number, with the data going straight to responders rather than through Google. The Commission's own reporting shows that this location is not yet guaranteed for foreign phones in every country, so do not count on it: say where you are.

Reading out your position when you do not know where you are

On a mountain path, "near the second lake" is not much use to a rescuer. Coordinates are. Satellite positioning keeps working without mobile signal, so the phone can still tell you where you are even when it cannot send it.

On an iPhone, the Compass app shows your coordinates and elevation on screen; Apple notes that Location Services must be allowed for Compass, and that coordinates may not appear in every country or region. In Google Maps on Android or iPhone, touch and hold an empty spot on the map to drop a pin, and the coordinates appear in the search box. Tapping your blue location dot also shows a Plus Code, a shorter address that Google Maps can share.

Try both at home. Finding a menu for the first time while cold and scared takes far longer than it should.

Satellite SOS: which phones, and where in Europe

Apple's Emergency SOS via satellite works on iPhone 14 and later when there is no mobile or Wi-Fi coverage. Its list of countries includes Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, the UK, Norway, Iceland and Andorra, among others. Visitors can use it in those countries too, unless their iPhone was bought in one of a few places Apple names, such as mainland China or Russia. You need to be outside with a clear view of the sky and the horizon.

Google offers Satellite SOS on Pixel phones from the Pixel 9, except the Pixel 9a. Its European list is longer and includes Greece, Croatia and Poland as well as most of western Europe. Google Messages must be your default messaging app, and trees, terrain and buildings can block the link.

Both companies offer a demo, which Google places under Settings, then Safety and emergency, then Satellite SOS. Run it before the trip: the lists change, and it is better to learn the aiming on a calm afternoon.

Before a walk through an area with poor coverage

• Leave with a full battery and a power bank, and switch on low power mode from the start.
• Download the offline map of the area so navigation does not depend on signal; our offline maps guide shows how.
• Tell someone your route and when you expect to be back.
• Check whether your phone supports satellite SOS in that country, and run the demo.
• Keep your usual line active, so emergency calls and texts are not left to chance.

A data plan does not create coverage where there is none, but it does keep maps, weather and messages working everywhere the network reaches. If you are hiking in a country your home plan does not cover cheaply, a country data eSIM keeps that part simple; and if you lose the phone altogether, our guide on what to do with a lost phone abroad takes it from there.