diff --git a/html/includes/common/alerts.inc.php b/html/includes/common/alerts.inc.php
index 3ae907ac3306..cd649c33cd02 100644
--- a/html/includes/common/alerts.inc.php
+++ b/html/includes/common/alerts.inc.php
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
     $current_state = isset($widget_settings['state']) ? $widget_settings['state'] : '';
     $current_group = isset($widget_settings['group']) ? $widget_settings['group'] : '';
     $current_proc = isset($widget_settings['proc']) ? $widget_settings['proc'] : '';
+    $current_sorting = isset($widget_settings['sort']) ? $widget_settings['sort'] : '';
 
     $common_output[] = '
 <form class="form" onsubmit="widget_settings(this); return false;">
@@ -140,6 +141,21 @@
       </select>
     </div>
   </div>
+  <div class="form-group row">
+    <div class="col-sm-4">
+      <label for="sort" class="control-label">Sort alerts by: </label>
+    </div>
+    <div class="col-sm-8">
+      <select class="form-control" name="sort">';
+    $common_output[] = '<option value=""' . ($current_sorting == '' ? ' selected' : '')
+                       . '>timestamp, descending</option>';
+    $common_output[] = '<option value="severity"' . ($current_sorting == 'severity' ? ' selected' : ' ')
+                       . '>severity, descending</option>';
+
+    $common_output[] = '
+      </select>
+    </div>
+  </div>
 
   <div class="form-group">
     <div class="col-sm-12">
@@ -156,6 +172,7 @@
     $min_severity = $widget_settings['min_severity'];
     $group = $widget_settings['group'];
     $proc = $widget_settings['proc'];
+    $sort = $widget_settings['sort'];
 
     $title = "Alerts";
 
@@ -194,6 +211,10 @@
         }
     }
 
+    if (!empty($sort)) {
+        $title = "$title " . "sorted by severity (higher first)";
+    }
+
     $widget_settings['title'] = $title;
 
     $group = $widget_settings['group'];
@@ -254,6 +275,10 @@
         $common_output[] = "proc: '$proc',\n";
     }
 
+    if (isset($sort) && sort != '') {
+        $common_output[] = "sort: '$sort',\n";
+    }
+
     $common_output[] = '
             device_id: \'' . $device['device_id'] . '\'
         }
diff --git a/html/includes/table/alerts.inc.php b/html/includes/table/alerts.inc.php
index 164692ff3686..4efd937540c2 100644
--- a/html/includes/table/alerts.inc.php
+++ b/html/includes/table/alerts.inc.php
@@ -100,8 +100,10 @@
     $total = 0;
 }
 
-if (!isset($sort) || empty($sort)) {
+if (!isset($vars['sort']) || empty($vars['sort'])) {
     $sort = 'timestamp DESC';
+} else {
+    $sort = '`alert_rules`.`severity` DESC';
 }
 
 $sql .= " ORDER BY $sort";