The warning alarm

I got it, I appreciated it and it's a good idea. Had similar alerts re weather abroad. Hope people will take the advice seriously and be prosecuted if they cause fires through their own recklessness.

But that could quite easily have been achieved with a text, I actually think it devalues the emergency alarm. I see some domestic violence charities have raised concerns about it.

I am in Scotland. I have had no alarm call, although it has been described as UK-wide. That has made no difference to the likelihood of me dropping a cigarette end, lighting a disposable barbecue in a field of parched long grass, or starting a bonfire next to a bone-dry wooden shed, because I wouldn't do any of those things anyway. However it may make a difference to some people who hadn't realised how easily they can cause a fire that destroys the homes. livelihoods, and even the lives, of real people.

If I had heard it, it would have been a shock, but I think that would have been better than leaving the population to stay complacent about just how near we are to having uncontrollable fires raging across the country. We have been lucky in the past, compared to countries in parts of the world where these high temperatures and extensive wildfires have been the norm.

All very well if you were sat somewhere cosily when this alarm went off but dangerous when driving.

Or a sudden by election !

JaneJudge

Imagine if we got this alarm every time we got a new Prime Minister

😂

It was quite alarming as what sounded like the majority of phones going off in our €* carriage as we came out of the Channel Tunnel- was something wrong with the train? Having had a 1 1/2 delay to our train further South in the Dordogne my first thought was a fire, the second a terrorist attack!

We being me and DH.

I was driving when it sounded. We both looked at each other, wondering whether the car was going to fall apart. We had no idea it came from the phone at first.

Imagine if we got this alarm every time we got a new Prime Minister

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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 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.

I got my message in Welsh too.