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British broadcaster Sky said on Friday it has received a security threat, hours after Irish broadcaster RTE evacuated its building following a bomb threat, and as a wave of bomb threats have affected European flights this week.
Sky was one of a number of media organisations that received a security threat, the broadcaster, which is owned by Comcast, said in a statement read by a presenter on Sky News.
“We have carried out a security assessment and reported the matter to the relevant authorities. The safety and security of our colleagues is our primary concern, and we are working closely with authorities to ensure our people and operations remain secure. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
Earlier on Friday, RTE said the threat it had received claimed to be by the same group who have been behind a wave of bomb threats issued to passenger flights around Europe this week. The reporter read excerpts from the email on air, but did not name the group.
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How concerned should European governments and the public be about the risk of further incidents?
Dray Agha, senior manager, tactical response at Huntress told The Independent that further disruption could be expected.
"The risk of further disruption remains elevated as digital systems continue to control physical operations across Europe. Businesses must identify which of their physical assets can be reached remotely and disconnect those that do not require internet access.
“The public should expect further isolated service interruptions but these are manageable if organisations establish safe manual workarounds."
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 14:00
Europe facing 'hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare'
Spain's foreign minister said the continent appeared to be facing "hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare".
Around half a dozen flights were disrupted in some way on Tuesday and more than two dozen on Thursday, some of them making unplanned landings or being escorted to their destinations by fighter jets.
On Friday, jets escorted airliners flying from Brussels to Sofia and from Prague to Bucharest and Cyprus through Hungarian airspace due to bomb threats, Hungarian Defence Minister Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi said.
He also said NATO had ordered an air patrol near the Hungarian-Romanian border, the first report that the Western defence alliance had become involved.
Danish police said threats had been directed at traffic at Copenhagen airport but that there appeared to be no danger to passengers. The airport said it was "operating normally".
Czech police registered bomb threats to nine flights departing from or arriving in Prague. An airport spokesperson said no flights had been cancelled as a result.
However, an Italian airport authority source said a Wizz Air flight from Prague to Rome had been diverted to Venice.
France said four new bomb threats had been made to aircraft flying over French territory, and that all had landed safely.
A Ryanair flight from Rome landed as scheduled in Lisbon, CNN Portugal reported.
Security experts said on Thursday that the threats had the hallmarks of a coordinated "hybrid attack", although it was always possible that individuals were issuing copycat threats or acting on personal grievances.
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 13:43
Inside the bomb threats that have grounded flights all week
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 13:40
Sky News 'working closely with authorities' after bomb threat
Broadcaster Sky has said it is “working closely with authorities” after the company received a bomb threat on Friday.
The broadcaster was one of a number of media organisations to receive the threat, including Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ.
A Sky spokesperson said: “Earlier today, Sky was one of a number of media organisations that received a security threat.
“We have carried out a security assessment and reported the matter to the relevant authorities.
“The safety and security of our colleagues is our primary concern, and we are working closely with authorities to ensure our people and operations remain secure.
“It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
It is understood the broadcaster received a bomb threat.
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 13:34
Watch: Could we see more bomb hoax threats in the future? Experts explain
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 13:33
Pictured: Police rush to scene of RTE bomb threat
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 13:29
The latest in a wave of sabotage across Europe
While no country has attributed blame for the threats, they come after a wave of sabotage attacks and attempts on targets across Europe ranging from German electricity substations to defence-related facilities in the Baltic region, supermarket refrigerators in France and elsewhere and Leipzig airport in Germany.
Many officials have linked the campaign to Europe’s support for Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces, accusing Moscow of a campaign of “hybrid” disruptions that are essentially cheap to execute, easy to deny and not expected to trigger an armed response. Moscow has strongly denied involvement.
Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares told the national broadcaster TVE that, while it would take time to determine exactly what happened, “it cannot be mere coincidence that so many incidents with exactly the same modus operandi are happening across Europe”.
“The most reasonable assumption is that we are facing an attempt at hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare,” he said, adding that Europe must be prepared for more such challenges.
On Thursday, an airport source in Italy said bomb threats had been sent to several airlines and airport operators in Rome and Milan claiming to be from “fighters of the Male State”, a far-right anti-feminist movement banned in Russia.
Reuters could not confirm who had sent the email. Vladislav Pozdnyakov, a Russian blogger who set up Male State in 2016, said it no longer existed and was not involved in any way.
Reuters6 November 2026 13:27
Newsrooms across Ireland and Bulgaria received bomb threats
Newsrooms in Ireland and Bulgaria received emailed bomb threats on Friday from a purported “Mikhail Andropov”, claiming responsibility for a widening wave of hoax threats disrupting passenger flights across Europe.
The messages, sent to Bulgaria’s Nova TV and the Irish public broadcaster RTE, which evacuated its offices, were headlined “Message to the West” and portrayed the threats as the prelude to a series of attacks on means of transport across Europe. The British broadcaster Sky also said it had received a security threat.
Reuters was not able to establish the identity of the sender, the origin of the emails, or whether they had in fact come from the same source as the threats to any or all of the dozens of flights affected since Tuesday. No explosive devices have been found and all planes have landed safely.
Reuters6 November 2026 13:24
More about RTÉ's threat
RTÉ put “staff safety first” and evacuated employees shortly after 9am, the organisation’s deputy director general has said.
Adrian Lynch told RTÉ’s News At One radio programme: “I received a call and shortly before nine o’clock from our deputy managing director of news to inform me of the email that had come in.
“He’d already forwarded that email to the director general.
“Just after nine, I then spoke with the director General and we took the decision that we had to put staff safety first.
“So we began a process of evacuation and we activated our business continuity plan.
“So we took this threat very seriously and I have to say it’s extremely sinister and it’s also very sinister that this happened to a number of media organisations simultaneously.”
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 13:22
Threat against Sky the latest in a number of scares this week
The bomb threat against Sky is the latest scare this week. Flights around the world were disrupted by bomb threats.
Irish broadcaster RTE also said it received a threat, claiming to be by the same group who have been behind a wave of bomb threats issued to passenger flights around Europe this week.
The reporter read excerpts from the email on air, but did not name the group.
Bryony Gooch6 November 2026 13:19