Hoax bomb threats force evacuations at over 6,000 schools across Italy, alerts reported in UK and Ireland

Thousands of students, parents and teachers across Europe were caught up in a wave of false bomb alerts on Wednesday after around 6,300 schools in Italy received threatening emails, triggering evacuations and widespread disruption to classes.

The threats also reached schools in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However, authorities in those regions classified the messages as hoaxes, allowing classes to continue without major disruption. The latest incident adds to a series of threats and cyberattacks targeting public institutions and essential services across Europe, including supermarkets, blood banks, air traffic systems and television broadcasters.

In Italy, schools moved quickly to evacuate students after receiving the warnings, forcing many parents to abandon their daily routines to collect their children. For families, the sudden disruption brought fear and confusion, particularly among younger students who struggled to understand what was happening.

"My daughter Dafne started crying because the kids did not understand what was happening, and she was still shaken when I picked her up," Nensi Bego, whose child attends Mazzini Middle School in Rome was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"This is so annoying. It's obvious it's just a hoax that disrupts lessons and disrupts everyone's day," she added. A copy of the email reviewed by Reuters also contained a threat against Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. However, Meloni said the alerts posed no danger and that police and other public authorities were monitoring the situation.

Schools took precautionary measures to reassure families and protect students. One Rome school informed parents through a messaging application that all students had been moved to a safe area and were being supervised by teaching staff.

The message received by Italian schools was signed by "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan", according to a copy reviewed by Reuters. "The (school) emails are public. (Sending the bomb alert messages) was as easy as drinking a glass of water," a national security source told Reuters, highlighting the ease with which the warnings could be circulated.

The same purported author had also claimed responsibility for bomb threat emails sent to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria recently.

Russia and Iran face scrutiny over wider European disruptions

The school threats come against a backdrop of growing concern among European governments over a series of disruptive incidents targeting public services and civilian infrastructure.

Some European officials suspect Russia could be behind a broader campaign aimed at unsettling countries supporting Ukraine since Moscow launched its invasion. Russia has rejected the allegations and accused Western governments of conducting a smear campaign. Iran has also come under scrutiny. France summoned the Iranian ambassador on Tuesday after accusing Tehran of a cyberattack that disabled refrigerators in hundreds of supermarkets the previous week.

Tehran rejected the allegations, describing them as "baseless and hostile". Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Wednesday's school threats appeared designed to create public anxiety and spread fear.

According to the Adnkronos news agency, Crosetto said the incidents reflected a clear strategy to unsettle communities. However, he cautioned against automatically attributing every threat to foreign governments or hostile organisations. He said such incidents could also involve individuals seeking attention or people attempting to spread terror in cities and regions.

School leaders warn of emotional toll on students

Beyond the immediate security response, the threats have raised concerns about the psychological impact on children and the disruption to learning. Antonello Giannelli, head of the Italian School Principals Association, said the alerts had caused distress among students, families and school staff.

"Even though today's threats are clearly hoaxes, we cannot underestimate the consequences of incidents that alarm entire school communities and disrupt the normal conduct of educational activities," he said. The incidents underline the vulnerability of schools to mass-distributed threats, even when no credible explosive danger is identified. For students and parents, the uncertainty itself can be deeply unsettling, turning an ordinary school day into an experience of fear and disruption.