The warning alarm

The minute our Eurostar train came out of the Tunnel this evening, everybody’s phones went off!
Quite alarming at first!

Yes not alarmed by it at all.

We all had this the other week in Australia. Preparing us for an all out world war ? Where would we go ? What would we do ? No follow up information whatsoever. They made the excuse that they would use it for bushfires but we have had things in place for that scenario since mid last century. Sometimes I think Tasmania is looking good ….

Yes …. First one was in Welsh , which we didn’t understand. Ten minutes later the English version. My daughter had 4 Welsh alarms in a row.
My next door neighbour, a widow and 87 was terrified. She thought a fire was imminent.
They might have warned us we were going to get an alarm !

I was in the kitchen and heard a funny intermittent noise and I thought ‘I must get some new batteries for the fire alarm’ it’s going off in a funny way, they must be dying! then it stopped for itself I went and sat down and the tv was on and a presenter of some kind said ‘oh there’s a fire alarm going off in the studio’ so I thought ‘oh that’s what it was not my fire alarm at all’
Then the message popped up on my phone which seemed quite some time later and the puzzle was solved but I d have probably been burnt to a cinder by then if it was fir real

Yes we were at a wedding and all alarms going off good job the service was over, the evening firework display was cancelled but they improvised and showed one on a screen😀.

I actually think the shock element was good, because next time they need to use it, it might mean imminent danger, and people ignore warnings if they know in advance that they are going to be broadcast - and if your phone didn’t go off, it’s worth sorting it out now. I just hope that it shocked some idiots, young people who are deliberately starting fires in particular, into taking notice

Got the alarm but no message so didn’t know what I was supposed to do if anything.

jamesandJon33 I got this on my local community page - a joke from the Welsh speaker perspective, despite it being a concern that the English message was not first it made me laugh!

Yes I did. My grandson was in the pub and all the phones went off and some people dropped their pints in shock.

I got my message in Welsh too.

I remember our old war siren at the town hall going off one evening.
My parents were out, so I ran across to our neighbors, as I thought it was some nuclear threat.
We found out later that there had been a massive fire at our local power station.

It was definitely right to send it out because of the danger from fires. Yes, I agree with that. BUT why did they need to use the alarm?

It was a public safety warning not an emergency alert. There was no immanent danger. The text would have been sufficient. It would fill your screen and require a reply. No need for the scary alarm.

I got the message and no alarm. I wonder if it was the telephone companies that got it wrong?

I didn't get a message either, not English, Welsh, French or in any language, let alone a alarm.

This might be helpful to explain why not everybody got the alert.
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/people-not-receive-government-emergency-34463263#:~:text=The%20emergency%20alert%20only%20works,tablet%20for%20future%20test%20alerts.

Thanks casdon. I am amazed my dad got it, I thought his phone was fairly old style.

DH eventually got the message. I got the message and the alarm.
Thanks for the link casdon
The Liverpool Echo is behind a paywall but this link is the official explanation.
www.gov.uk/alerts/how-alerts-work

Yes, all 5 phones went off at home! Personally, I consider it to have been totally unnecessary, and probably frightened the life out of some vulnerable people. There have been enough warnings about the risk of wildfires and how we should avoid disposable barbecues, fire pits, fireworks etc. The alarm should be used in emergency situations only, such as a terrorist threat or a tsunami.

Patsy70

Yes, all 5 phones went off at home! Personally, I consider it to have been totally unnecessary, and probably frightened the life out of some vulnerable people. There have been enough warnings about the risk of wildfires and how we should avoid disposable barbecues, fire pits, fireworks etc. The alarm should be used in emergency situations only, such as a terrorist threat or a tsunami.

For some of us this already is an emergency situation though, and for a lot more of us the effects of smoke are being felt, miles away from incidents. The alarm system reaches everybody, not just the people who already watch and listen to the news - the stupid or careless people who are actually starting some of the fires will have received it too. If it prevents even a few fires, I think it’s worth the minor inconvenience to the rest of us.

I received the message and the alarm, here in south Devon.
It only made me jump slightly. It's not that alarming.

If it prevents even a few fires, I think it’s worth the minor inconvenience to the rest of us.
This is what I think too. How many more houses need to be burned to the ground before this is considered by everyone to be an emergency?

I heard the alarm but didn’t connect it with my phone wh was in another room. Never had message on phone but did find it on my Apple Watch wh I hadn’t been wearing.

Agree the message would have been enough - no need for the alarm. Hope they tighten up on areas of poor reception.

Someone on spotted said that were at a motorway intersection and was so shocked by the sound she can’t remember anything about how she negotiated it safely, just that her little son asked ‘mummy is the car going to blow up’.

MayBee70

Someone on spotted said that were at a motorway intersection and was so shocked by the sound she can’t remember anything about how she negotiated it safely, just that her little son asked ‘mummy is the car going to blow up’.

I wondered about that, but DD1 said it was surprising, like being hooted at but not overwhelming. She wondered if it would have been louder if her phone had been linked in to her car player, because it was definitely loud.