Emergency warning on Sunday

Like many GNs here, I'm leaving my phone on, as is DH. (I hadn't thought about hearing aids; thanks for this helpful advice, Salti!) We want to know how this phone system works. Decades ago there was a factory fire in our area and we heard a "warning shout" which was undertaken from a helicopter, hovering overhead in the night. It was telling us not to go out & not to open windows. (But we had to open the windows to hear them saying this...!) Pretty scary at the time.

I, and others I've spoken to, think this is to warn us of a nuclear attack.
I’ll be okay then, skydancer. I’ve still got my copy of ‘Protect and Survive’ left ver from the Cold War.

No emergency notifications on my mobile to turn off. On checking mine’s operating system 9 so presumably I won’t get the warning. This begs the question, apart from any perceived infringement of personal liberty, what’s the point if so many aren’t going to receive it anyway?

EEJit

To those of you objecting to the system or have switched it off, if one of your grandchildren/great grandchildren went missing, would you object to this system, or similar being used to find them?

Thought not.

I don't have children.

Too many assumptions EEjit. Think again.

I think there may be many reasons that you would want to have the alarm system turned on for everyday life but to turn it off for the test. If you care for someone who has alzheimers and will be panicked by it, if you are a carer for someone with other issues who will be scared by the noise, if you expect to be driving, to be in hospital or be visiting someone in hospital.....

My son says that this isn’t a warning test, but a celebration of his 40th birthday which falls on that day 🤣🤣😍

I'll be leaving my mobile on purely out of curiosity, even though I'm not quite sure what practical use such a warning system would provide. Maybe I'll learn something about that. As regards reference to warning in the event of Nuclear Attack, I suppose it may just give me enough time to follow the advice my DH was given whilst in the military.. i.e. stay well clear of windows, put as many walls as you can between you and the outside world, find the most secure sheltered corner, sit on the floor, put your hands behind your head, keep your eyes closed, draw your knees up as far as you can then force your head down and kiss your a***e goodbye..

👍

Marydoll

That was for Froglady.

I see what you mean.
I was talking about genuine fears of people with abusive partners , nobody else

To those of you objecting to the system or have switched it off, if one of your grandchildren/great grandchildren went missing, would you object to this system, or similar being used to find them?

Thought not.

That was for Froglady.

Germanshepherdsmum

Then you turn off the alert setting surely?

Not sure if this is a reply to my comment or not?
I was trying to point out to the people who think it's a lot of fuss about nothing, receiving these alerts, but it is to those people who live in fear.

Please give me some credit. I am already aware of this.
There are, as always, exceptions such as this.
However, I am not convinced that those people spouting conspiracy theories or complaining about the nanny state, are hiding phones from an abusive partner.

I will be leaving my phone on and telling my husband to remove his hearing aids. I want to know if he can hear it without them in.

Then you turn off the alert setting surely?

Sparklefizz

Marydoll I am just bemused by all the fuss. What harm can it do, to receive them.

Totally agree.

If you are in a situation of having to have a concealed phone, then an alarm that could be heard by your partner or whoever you are concealing the phone from, could trigger an attack on you by your partner.

B9exchange

The alert will only work on phones with operating systems Android 11 or later and iPhone 14.5 or later. Since a lot of phones are not this new, the alerts will not cover a large proportion of the population, and probably not the poorer sectors of society.

If you want to check, going to Settings and About will tell you which operating system you have.

I have Android 6 :-(

I agree with Volver3.

If you have updated your iOS to 14 or later then it should work. Mine is an older iPhone and it is updated to 16.4.1. So I expect to hear the alarm.
On the other hand my old iPhone 5 which I use for audio books will not currently update beyond 12.5.7, so should not receive the alarm.

The alert will only work on phones with operating systems Android 11 or later and iPhone 14.5 or later. Since a lot of phones are not this new, the alerts will not cover a large proportion of the population, and probably not the poorer sectors of society.

If you want to check, going to Settings and About will tell you which operating system you have.

Sparklefizz

Marydoll I am just bemused by all the fuss. What harm can it do, to receive them.

Totally agree.

It’s another You can’t tell me what to do example. Starts with primary children or even younger that parents, then teachers have to deal with. And we wonder where they learn it.

When I’ve visited my son in the US I’ve received warnings on my phone through their alert system. It’s usually due to thunder storms which can be very violent and dangerous where they used to live. I’ll be leaving my phone on its normal settings on Sunday and hope the alert doesn’t give me kittens when it goes off.

watermeadow, same here, I hate noises. In fact, having turned off alerts - I realised my phone's on silent anyway!

We're not alone, though. There was a persistent, annoying bleeping noise in the local park. I tracked it down and found a smoke alarm lying there in the grass.

I’m leaving mine on.
DH has turned his off. We will be hundreds of miles apart on Sunday.
I can’t see a problem in general. He keeps muttering about ‘Nanny State.’

It seems a very sensible idea to me. We do have occasions here in the UK of severe weather situations: extreme heat, storms, floods, which have consequences. It seems sensible to be able to warn people living in an affected area should the need arise.

All this conspiracy nonsense about the alarm coming through phones is just that - nonsense.