Italy has evacuated over 300 schools due to a bomb threat, with threats in Scotland and Ireland

Students and parents gather in front of Bacone Elementary School on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, following the evacuation of all campuses in Milan following a bomb threat. Photo credit: AP

Italian authorities evacuated hundreds of schools on Wednesday (11 November 2026) following an email bomb threat, the latest in a series of breaches affecting European institutions following recent scams targeting airlines and broadcasters.

Schools in Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland received similar threats, but no evacuations were reported.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said there was no indication of any “specific danger” to schools and that the threats appeared to be aimed at “causing alarm and concern”. She said an investigation was ongoing and that she had called a meeting of ministers for later on Wednesday (November 11, 2026).

The anonymous email also threatened Ms. Meloni, according to copies obtained by Italian media, including the LaPresse news agency. She did not address the personal threat in her statement, and her office did not immediately comment.

The email purported to be from the leader of an otherwise unknown group with an anti-women name and contained particularly violent threats. It was signed with the same Russian name used in last week’s threats against European broadcasters.

Authorities have not attributed the threats to any group or state, and no evidence has emerged linking the hoaxes to the government.

Threats reported in other countries

Police in Northern Ireland have said they are carrying out an “urgent investigation” after a threatening email was sent to hundreds of schools. Police in Scotland said they were treating such reports as hoaxes and not requiring the evacuation of schools.

“Our assessment remains that they do not pose a credible threat,” Police Scotland said.

Police in Ireland also said they were aware of “general communications” sent to several educational institutions.

Rome’s students learn of the threat after evacuating

Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told reporters that 312 schools had been evacuated after email threats were received.

“These are very delicate considerations because there is always the risk that someone else is behind the madman,” he said. “Because there are so many schools involved, the real risk is almost non-existent.”

At Rome’s Mamiani High School, students poured into the streets, mistaking the alarm clock for a bell. They only found out about the bomb threat after they were outside.

“They say it was a bombing because there was an email from Russian hackers saying they were going to kill everyone. It was pretty violent,” said 18-year-old student Anita Bartocci.

A pattern of fraud is emerging

Bomb threats targeted dozens of flights across Europe last week after a series of hoaxes forced flight diversions and left airlines scrambling to keep passengers safe and minimize disruption.

Hoax bomb threats are relatively common, but so many in such a short period of time is unusual. No suspicious items were found and no one was injured. Still, the threats raised concerns as they followed other breaches across Europe, including attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems and drone strikes.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the email threats were aimed “to sow terror or cause concern”.

“It’s too easy. Any one of us can use the means and tools available to send an email to a school, a daycare, an airline saying there’s a bomb,” Mr Crosetto told reporters at an event on Wednesday (Nov 11, 2026).

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Saturday (7 November 2026) that his personal data had been leaked to the dark web, an encrypted part of the internet. Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni blamed pro-Russian hackers.

The company overseeing the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel, which will connect Austria and Italy, also said at the weekend that it had been hacked last month.

Published – 11 Nov 2026 22:22 IST