The warning alarm

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

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.

We being me and DH.

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!

JaneJudge

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

😂

Or a sudden by election !

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

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.

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 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.

Would a text even be read though? I ignore them when they come in, and answer them once a day, so that wouldn’t work for me. I don’t think there’s any method of communication that suits everybody’s needs, because we all lead different lives and have different ways of looking at things - it’s a no win for the government.

Well I wont be texting you then casdon

I think a lot of people are like me though, if I’m at home I use the iPad, I don’t bother with my phone unless it rings, and use messenger on the iPad to communicate with family and friends, therefore only boring stuff comes through on texts.

Charities involved in helping women in abusive relationships have strongly criticised this warning as it could have alerted the abuser to a secret phone.

At least if we had been told it was happening at a certain time, vulnerable people could ensure the alert on their phone was switched off.

Also I was under the impression that the alarm was only meant to be used to warn of imminent danger to life.

I suppose i think it wasnt an emergency but maybe I am just whinging, after all I have switched them off so it has no impact on me now. Yep I am just whinging.

I think like that this did have the effect of devaluing the alarm. That level of urgency should only be used for imminent danger, not for what was in essence a public service announcement no matter the seriousness of the situation. Should it go again I'd likely ignore it and read the message at a later time not believing it needs immediate attention. The notification could have been sent without the accompanying klaxon. I can't remember the sound that accompanied the alerts I received when in Canada informing me of an imminent tornado, but it wasn't a screeching klaxon and did the job just as well.

Casdon

Would a text even be read though? I ignore them when they come in, and answer them once a day, so that wouldn’t work for me. I don’t think there’s any method of communication that suits everybody’s needs, because we all lead different lives and have different ways of looking at things - it’s a no win for the government.

There aren’t many people who only check their phone once a day tbf😁

Various people who were driving say they almost had an accident as they were shocked.
I don’t think this emergency alarm was ever meant to be about reminding people of not starting fires in Summer.
A text or tv announcements would have been enough.

JenniferEccles

Charities involved in helping women in abusive relationships have strongly criticised this warning as it could have alerted the abuser to a secret phone.

At least if we had been told it was happening at a certain time, vulnerable people could ensure the alert on their phone was switched off.

Also I was under the impression that the alarm was only meant to be used to warn of imminent danger to life.

Yes. I saw something on Facebook asking how many women would be beaten up because of the alarm and didn’t realise what they meant until this was explained to me.

A few years ago, whilst visiting a friend in Plymouth, we were in the busy city centre heading for a restaurant. Just as we were about to cross the road, hundreds of mobile phones sounded the alarm.
We stared at the sky, we looked at each other, we frantically prodded and scrolled in bewilderment.
It turned out that an unexploded WW2 bomb recently discovered in someone's back garden was about to be moved through the streets of the city and down to the breakwater.
There it was to be taken out to sea and blown up.
The city Council had sent out the emergency warning of the exclusion zone and the route of the truck carrying the bomb.

This is not uncommon abroad, of course.
The classy Venetians warn of Aqua Alta with a burst of classical music..

Casdon

Would a text even be read though? I ignore them when they come in, and answer them once a day, so that wouldn’t work for me. I don’t think there’s any method of communication that suits everybody’s needs, because we all lead different lives and have different ways of looking at things - it’s a no win for the government.

The text would have been fine because my phone was in another room and I never heard the alarm. When I looked at my phone there was an urgent message plastered all over the screen. It wasn't just a normal text message and you had to click okay to show you'd seen it. You couldn't have missed it and there was no need for the alarm.

That’s no help to me though, as my phone is in a case, and in my handbag. I consciously manage corporate organisations interruptions, given they are very rarely important annd unexpected. Unless it had rung, I wouldn’t have picked it up until the next day.

I don’t think there is one solution that suits everybody, however, whatever they try.

No. I'm assuming it was sent to smartphones and I don't have one.

Too little, too late?