The NHS has issued an update about the problem with the 999 system that occurred on Sunday.

People were urged not to call 999 in an emergency while the technical fault was preventing calls from connecting.

Instead, Brits were told to call 101 if they needed help in an emergency.

The problem has been resolved now and the NHS has said a “full investigation is underway” as the cause of the problem needs to be found.

In a tweet, the NHS said: “There was an issue with the 999 system yesterday. This is now resolved and the service is running as normal. Anyone with a life threatening emergency should call 999 for assistance in the normal way.

“A full investigation is underway to understand what caused this problem.”

BT apologises for technical fault that prevented 999 calls from connecting

BT has apologised for the technical faults which prevented calls to the primary 999 emergency call service from connecting.

The telecommunications company manages the 999 phone system and said the issues were resolved on Sunday evening.

The system failures impacted emergency services across the country from around 8.30am on Sunday.

Minor issues persisted after BT switched to a “back-up system” at around 10am, with some services reporting a delay in calls being received.

A BT spokesperson said: “We are sincerely sorry for the distress this has caused. There was a short period of time as we switched over to the back-up system during which calls could not get through.

“In this instance, we are still able to see who is trying to reach the operator, and our handlers reconnect calls as a matter of urgency.

“Our back-up platform took calls throughout most of Sunday, with people able to call 999 as usual.

“The primary 999 service was restored earlier this evening and we are no longer relying on the back-up system.

“We are monitoring the service, and we continue to work hard to determine the root cause and the impact this has had.”