diff --git a/modules/globalalert.py b/modules/globalalert.py
index 28b08a1..4c6a592 100644
--- a/modules/globalalert.py
+++ b/modules/globalalert.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def get_govUK_alerts(lat, lon):
     try:
         # get UK.gov alerts
         url = 'https://www.gov.uk/alerts'
-        response = requests.get(url)
+        response = requests.get(url, timeout=urlTimeoutSeconds)
         soup = bs.BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
         # the alerts are in <h2 class="govuk-heading-m" id="alert-status">
         alert = soup.find('h2', class_='govuk-heading-m', id='alert-status')
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def get_nina_alerts():
         alerts = []
         for regionalKey in myRegionalKeysDE:
             url = ("https://nina.api.proxy.bund.dev/api31/dashboard/" + regionalKey + ".json")
-            response = requests.get(url)
+            response = requests.get(url, timeout=urlTimeoutSeconds)
             data = response.json()
 
             for item in data:
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def get_wxUKgov():
     try:
         # get UK weather warnings
         url = 'https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/guides/rss'
-        response = requests.get(url)
+        response = requests.get(url, timeout=urlTimeoutSeconds)
         soup = bs.BeautifulSoup(response.content, 'xml')
         
         items = soup.find_all('item')
diff --git a/modules/locationdata.py b/modules/locationdata.py
index 1542213..c9fb4ee 100644
--- a/modules/locationdata.py
+++ b/modules/locationdata.py
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def getArtSciRepeaters(lat=0, lon=0):
     if zipCode.isnumeric():
         try:
             artsci_url = f"http://www.artscipub.com/mobile/showstate.asp?zip={zipCode}"
-            response = requests.get(artsci_url)
+            response = requests.get(artsci_url, timeout=urlTimeoutSeconds)
             if response.status_code!=200:
                 logger.error(f"Location:Error fetching data from {artsci_url} with status code {response.status_code}")
             soup = bs.BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
diff --git a/modules/settings.py b/modules/settings.py
index 28729ec..f786284 100644
--- a/modules/settings.py
+++ b/modules/settings.py
@@ -441,6 +441,6 @@ try:
     noisyTelemetryLimit = config['messagingSettings'].getint('noisyTelemetryLimit', 5) # default 5 packets
 except Exception as e:
     print(f"System: Error reading config file: {e}")
-    print(f"System: Check the config.ini against config.template file for missing sections or values.")
-    print(f"System: Exiting...")
+    print("System: Check the config.ini against config.template file for missing sections or values.")
+    print("System: Exiting...")
     exit(1)