Update: Over 300 Italian schools get bomb-threat emails, and Northern Ireland and Scotland are hit too

More than 300 schools in Italy received emailed bomb threats on Wednesday morning, and some were evacuated as a precaution. CNBC reports, citing Reuters, that Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara told Italian television the threats are presumed to be hoaxes and that the number of affected schools was expected to rise. Schools in Northern Ireland and Scotland also received similar messages.

This follows the flight threats we have covered: Friday's third wave, Thursday's 25 flights and Tuesday's first wave.

What officials and outlets say

• Italy. The BBC reports emails went to schools in Rome, Naples, Vicenza, Florence, Pisa, Trieste and other cities. Valditara called the episode probably a "cyber-attack, not a genuine risk". Many evacuations were lifted quickly and pupils returned to class, according to regional reports the BBC cites. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called a meeting of ministers and intelligence chiefs and said checks so far showed no evidence of "concrete danger".
• The message. Reuters, via CNBC, saw a copy signed "Mikhail Andropov, leader of the Vilayat of Misoginistan". The same name was attached to bomb threats emailed to newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria last Friday. The signature identifies the sender of the message, not who is really behind it.
• Northern Ireland and Scotland. Police Scotland said the email originated from outside the UK and is being treated as a hoax. The Police Service of Northern Ireland also treats its messages as a hoax. The BBC says more than 300 Northern Ireland schools were sent emails. It is unclear whether the UK and Italian incidents are connected.

Who is behind it is still unknown

CNBC says it is unclear who is responsible or whether the campaign is state-backed. The BBC notes that a Russian extremist group named in earlier threats later denied any link to them. Valditara described a clear strategy behind the threats in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, which have targeted flights, supermarkets and hospitals; that is the minister's assessment, not a finding of attribution.

What it means for families and businesses

A hoax costs real money even when nothing is found. A school evacuated at 10 a.m. loses a morning of teaching. Parents leave work for pickups, and shops and cafés near campuses see traffic and routines scrambled. Employers across Europe lose hours the same way, and airlines have already absorbed diversions and searches from last week's flight threats. None of this has been quantified by officials, so we do not put a figure on it.

For business owners the practical lesson is preparation. Know how a threat email reaches your staff, who decides on an evacuation, and where employees go, because the same wave has hit newsrooms, flights and schools in a single week. Police in both countries say the public risk is not credible, and that is the guidance to follow unless local authorities say otherwise.

Sources: CNBC, citing Reuters; BBC News. Reuters, AP, the Financial Times and France 24 carry the same story. We will update as officials say more. This is general news information, not security advice.