Government alert?!?!

A notification yes but not alarm alert . These should be kept for major incidents that require your immediate attention and action.
A forest fire close to you yes , tsunami yes, earthquake yes .
But not information needing no immediate action .

Yes I think you are. I know nobody has died yet but firefighters have been hospitalised and people have seen their homes burnt to ashes.
There will always be some entitled fuckwit who decides to have their BBQ because they will never cause a fire…they’ve obviously never experienced the ferocity with which a fire can take hold.
And if the alert makes that person think again then I’m all for it.

Something really bad is happening!

It scared the shit out of me too, and then I lay in bed listening to fuckwits letting off fireworks, which scared me even more. Maybe a government ad explaining to idiots what a national emergency actually means.

I think it is a really good idea. We lived in the Moddle East for a long time and they use this alert system for all public messages. There is no excuse of being unaware. This may not have been the most important of alerts but apparently it was requested by the fire brigade.
on the whole I am in favour of it.

It popped up on DH's phone and we jumped, then I thought why didn't I get one? A few seconds later I did so we jumped again, then I got a second one lol 😆

Stourbridge resident here, made me jump, but under the circumstances not surprised. We’ve had some before, but usually for floods or storms. We can still smell burning, so didn’t really need it!!

Really shook me. Thought my phone had been hijacked by scammers.

Why don't the Gov just ban those awful cheap bbqs for good Along with fire works, that are another potentially idiot hazard and death trap.
📱🇬🇧🤬

A friend of mine was staying overnight in one of the affected Welsh valleys. There was a small fire a few miles away when she went to bed.

It worsened overnight and got very close. THAT is when the alert should have been used, to prepare her to evacuate and await further instructions. As it was she just got the general alert when she was already safely back home. Pointless

Why the hysteria from some of you? The purpose of these alerts are to warn us of potential danger or to be aware of potential danger. I will hazard a guess that some of you getting in a tizz over these messages would also be saying “why weren’t we warned” if we hadn’t been.
Read the message right through, stop panicking. As in the comedy, remember, ‘Don’t panic, Captain Mainwaring’ 😊

A general alert is to make us all aware - many, many areas within the UK are tinder dry - anywhere in these regions is a potential fire hazard, and unfortunately there are people out there stupid enough to discard a cigarette end or light one of those instant barbecues, (or, even worse, deliberately start a fire), without thinking about the potentially devastating consequences of their actions. If these alerts help to stop some of these thoughtless individuals in their tracks, then they are well worth sending out. Just because your area hasn’t been affected on this occasion does not mean it never can be. Be grateful that these alerts are in existence instead of moaning about them, and be grateful that it isn’t your home that has just been burnt down as is the case for those poor souls in Stourbridge.

About time too… I was only saying to my parents that it’s nuts they’ve enforced a hosepipe ban but not made fires or BBQs illegal during this dry hot spell.
we were just about to reverse car and the alarms scared us 🤣

The alerts are a good idea ! 👍
I can see why people were upset about it, but if the government don’t do anything they are flamed . They can’t win.

Believe me when I say this alert was nothing compared to the terror of a large fire metres from your house. we’ve had two nearby in the last 2 weeks. Then one day woken at 6am to the strong smell of burning thinking our house was on fire. It was smoke carried by the wind from a wildfire approx 15miles away….now that is a terror you never want to experience.

made me jump out of my skin, I was at work in a hospital.
But I agree with the message and scaring people into complying. Fireworks were going off on Thursday for A level celebrations only a few miles from ancient woodland near me

I agree with this.

Not nationwide cos I didn’t get it. Wildfires happen every summer where I am..5 lit fires on our land one Saturday..fortunately didn’t spread but te hill over the town was wild

Turned alerts off ages ago. No wonder people feel so much anxiety.

We did too. We had just watched an episode of Rookies where the same alert turned up on everyone’s phones to warn of a missile headed to LA. Couldn’t believe the timing. It makes you wonder what’s next.

If that loud phone alarm is so bad, I hope people are checkimg ahead the countries travel to for monthly siren tests... Now that's a sound if you are anywhere close...

Perhaps there will be one in NI on every Eleventh Night from now on, but I won't hold my breath.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70yp7d917eo

Hence the reason some countries use a two tier system.

The sort of plea/demand that UKGov sent out on Friday night triggers a low level warning without too many lights and beeps and get used for things like "fire risk nationally, don't light bonfires or use fireworks ..that includes you, Wembley stadium ..🙄.

OTOH if there is a serious problem with immediate risk to life or limb at or around a specific location then the locals, and it's the locals only, get a much harder to ignore alarm with all the sirens and flashing lights.

I've seen that in action once, overseas, for a factory accident where there was a risk of fumes being released into the local enviroment. Everyone within about a 15km radius of the factory got the full works on their mobiles..but outside that area, nothing to phones.

They send local ones for small areas. You can see they sent flood warnings.
England and Wales makes sense as large portion is in drought, it's holidays and people move around, so someone from area where it's ok goes on holidays where it isn't (most) and wouldn't have the info. It prompted many holiday sites to stop fire being used etc.
I think it did do it's job tbh.
You can seee how much of E&W is dry https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgv657e1yko
And yet there are still people asking online if they can fire up x or y when pics show the x and y is surrounded by crispy brown dry grass. 🙄
If they did only local alert, it would still be majority of E&W. So when you look at it, it was actually just local alert....

• I think it did do it's job tbh. You can seee how much of E&W is dry https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgv657e1yko And yet there are still people asking online if they can fire up x or y when pics show the x and y is surrounded by crispy brown dry grass.*

So if people are still asking, did the alert actually do it's job?

I live in the Netherlands and the civil defence alarm goes off on the first Monday of every month for the past 15 years, you’ll get used to it.

Yes. Because befote they wouldn't even ask, let alone get "don't be stupid" type of answers