A threatening email reached more than 300 schools across Northern Ireland on November 11, prompting the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to make urgent inquiries and contact affected schools.

Police Scotland assessed the warnings as hoaxes and said schools did not need to evacuate or keep pupils away solely because of the emails; cyber-crime officers were investigating, while Northern Ireland officials advised schools to remain open unless police directed otherwise.

The Education Authority said the message resembled a bogus threat sent to schools in the region the previous month, which the PSNI had declared a hoax.

An email seen by the BBC and sent to Scottish schools used wording similar to the Italian message and named Mikhail Andropov, but described him as leading a different project.

Despite official guidance, some Scottish schools were briefly evacuated as a precaution, including in Edinburgh and parts of Dumfries and Galloway; authorities later told schools to resume classes and readmit pupils.

Glasgow City Council’s executive director of education, John McGhee, said police had confirmed the threat was a hoax and schools should not be evacuated, adding that the safety of children, young people and staff remained the council’s priority.

Scotland’s education secretary Mairi McAllan acknowledged the concern the threats caused for families and school staff.

Alliance Party MLA Paula Bradshaw condemned the threats for causing fear and distress among pupils, parents and staff, and urged people to stay calm and follow official guidance.

In Italy, one email was sent on Wednesday to 6,300 of the country’s 7,476 state schools; private schools were unaffected, and some buildings were evacuated as a precaution before pupils returned.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said checks found no evidence of concrete danger, while Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said the threats were probably a cyber-attack rather than a genuine risk.

Italian headteachers described the emails as apparent spam, with reports indicating about 280 headteachers had received threats in recent days.

Italian officials connected the threats to a wider pattern of hoaxes targeting flights, supermarkets and hospitals; bomb hoaxes at Italian airports and other European airlines the previous week had prompted scares, evacuations and disruption.