Hundreds of schools evacuated in Italy following bomb threats via email

CNN — Rome (CNN) — Hundreds of schools are being evacuated in Italy after bomb threats were sent via email, a spokesperson for the Italian police told CNN Wednesday.

"The exact number of schools is undetermined, as the emails were sent to hundreds of them and then each school decides when to evacuate following the advice of the local police branch," the spokesperson said.

Authorities are investigating the source of the email, the spokesperson said, declining to confirm the email address the communication came from.

In central Rome, dozens of kindergarten and primary school children enjoyed a day off as the Quirinio Visconti primary school was evacuated.

Their parents were notified to pick them up, a teacher told CNN.

Some schools in the United Kingdom also received threatening emails on Wednesday.

Police Scotland said it was treating the messages as hoaxes and advised schools that the emails alone did not warrant evacuation.

In Northern Ireland, police said they were investigating a concerning email sent to several schools across the region.

The Education Authority said the message sent to "a large number of schools" in Northern Ireland resembled a hoax sent to schools last month and that it was unaware of any evidence of a "credible" threat.

This is a developing story and has been updated.