The hills of the UK are rarely far from a road, but the signal in the valleys and on the tops is patchy. These apps help you navigate, know the weather, say exactly where you are, and find signal. We built LastBar and say so.
First, the numbers
The emergency numbers are 999 and 112; ask for the police and then mountain rescue in the hills. If you cannot make a voice call, emergencySMS lets you text 999, but only from a phone you registered beforehand: text register to 999 and follow the reply.
OS Maps
Good for: Ordnance Survey maps, offline
The 1:25 000 and 1:50 000 maps of Ordnance Survey. Free users see the maps online and plan routes; a subscription lets you save areas for offline use.
Free to use online; offline maps with a subscription
what3words
Good for: telling 999 exactly where you are
Finds the three words of your 3-metre square offline. By its own count, most UK emergency services accept them.
Free
LastBar We built this
Good for: finding the nearest signal in a valley or on the tops
A map of where phones measured signal, and where they measured none, made by the people who use it, carrier by carrier. It keeps the map of the places around you and of the areas you save on your phone, so Find Signal can give you the distance and direction to the nearest signal with no connection: for an emergency call on any carrier, a call or SMS on your own, or data. It shows the emergency numbers of the country you are in, and water, shelter, clinics, police and fuel from OpenStreetMap. Android phones map signal in the background as you go; an iPhone maps while the app is open. Where nobody has been with it yet, the map is empty.
Android 8.0 and up, iPhone with iOS 16 and up ยท Free, with Pro bought once
Met Office
Good for: weather warnings, and mountain forecasts
Alerts for warnings where you are, forecasts up to seven days, and mountain forecasts with safety advice.
Free, with ads that can be removed
Organic Maps
Good for: free offline maps of footpaths
OpenStreetMap offline, with footpaths, contour lines and elevation profiles.
Free, no ads
On the hill
- Carry a paper map and a compass as well as your phone.
- Register for emergencySMS before you need it.
- Save the area in LastBar, so you know where the last bar was.
What each app does and costs is as its own pages, its store listing or UK emergency services said on 26 October 2026. Apps change; check before you rely on one.
