UK Area Codes and Phone Number Information

Special Numbers

Short codes for special services

Special short phone numbers are available for several services in the UK, from operator assistance to police and healthcare services.

Unless otherwise stated, these numbers work throughout England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Police, healthcare and emergencies

101 Police enquiries
15p per call
Report crime and minor traffic incidents that do not require an emergency response, or make a general enquiry.
105 Power cuts and emergencies
Free to call
Dedicated helpline for reporting power cuts or electricity network emergencies.
Not Northern Ireland.
111 NHS urgent care advice
Free to call
Medical help and advice in situations that are urgent but not life-threatening.
Not Northern Ireland.
112 Emergency Services
Free to call
Police, fire, ambulance and coastguard. For life-threatening situations, fires, crimes in progress and other major incidents.
112 also works throughout the EU.
999 Emergency Services
Free to call
Police, fire, ambulance and coastguard. For life-threatening situations, fires, crimes in progress and other major incidents.
999 and 112 calls are handled identically within the UK.

Helplines

116000 Missing People
Free to call
Help and assistance when somebody goes missing or runs away.
116111 Childline
Free to call
Free and confidential counselling and help for children up to age 19.
116123 Samaritans
Free to call
National emotional support and listening service.

The type of service provided on numbers starting 116 is determined by the EU, with the individual service providers selected by national governments. The long-term intention is that equivalent national services will be available throughout the EU - for example, it will be possible to report a missing child by dialling 116000 anywhere in Europe.

Telephone services and call management

100 Operator
Charges vary
For assistance when making a call or when having difficulty reaching a number within the UK, or requesting a reverse-charge call or alarm call.
118xxx Directory Enquiries
Charges vary
Over 400 different directory enquiry services are available on numbers beginning with 118.
123 Speaking Clock
Charges vary
Announces the current exact time.
Not all operators.
141 Withold outgoing number
Free to call
Dial 141 before a phone number to prevent your number appearing on their caller display or on the 1471 Call Return service.
1470 Reveal outgoing number
Free to call
For customers who have opted to permanently withold their number on outbound calls, dial 1470 before a phone number to reveal your number on a one-off basis.
1471 Call Return
Free to call
Announces the phone number and time of the last received call.
Landlines only.
1475 Call Return erase
Free to call
Deletes the most recent call details given in 1471.
Selected landline companies only.
150 Customer Services
Charges vary
Main customer contact number for most landline and mobile operators, for enquiries about charging, services provided and similar.
155 International Operator
Charges vary
For assistance when making a call or when having difficulty reaching a number outside the UK.
1571 Landline voicemail
Charges vary
Check and retrieve voicemail messages on your landline (if this service is activated).
Landlines only.

Services for disabled users

Special access codes can be used to access specialised assistance and the text-to-speech services used by people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

18000 Emergency Services Text relay access to police, fire, ambulance and coastguard. For life-threatening situations, fires, crimes in progress and other major incidents.
18001 Make a text relay call Text relay users may prefix any normal phone number with 18001 if they wish to make a call using text relay. If the person being called does not also have a textphone, an intermediary will convert spoken messages to text and vice versa.
18002 Call a text relay user Users without a textphone can access an intermediary to convert spoken messages to text and vice versa by prefixing the textphone user's number with 18002.
195 Directory enquiries for blind / disabled users Blind, partially-sighted or otherwise disabled users who are unable to use a phone book can access a free directory enquiries service.
198 Special assistance operator Access to the '100' Operator service for disabled customers.

Developments to the text relay service mean that the 18001 and 18002 codes do not always need to be used - the systems in use may now automatically route the call to intermediaries where necessary.

Proposed new telephone numbers

The EU has designated 116006 for national crime victim support helplines, along with 116117 for on-call medical services. Ofcom has consulted on these numbers but not yet been able to assign them to any service.

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