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Original poster

Triggering, but would we get warning if there was a Nuclear attack?

219 replies

shineanight · 09/03/2023 07:19

Or would we not?

I thought there was about 5-6 minutes I'm sure I read somewhere, from when officials know it'll happen to when it hits

Would we be warned via breaking news? Or would everyone just lose control, including news reporters, and make a run for it in blind panic?

Always wondered. Completely hypothetical obviously as almost 0 change of ever happening

OP posts:
Calistan · 09/03/2023 07:51

I thought they were making some kind of text alert for emergency situations. I'd rather not know tbh.

toomuchlaundry · 09/03/2023 07:51

If there was a nuclear war I might be questioning my religion.

When I was at sixth form I saw the play When the Wind Blows, laughed like a drain in the first half, was traumatised in the second half

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 09/03/2023 07:52

Back in the 1980s, it was put out by the government that we would - the 'six minute warning'. There isn't much you could do, though, unless you have access to a fully stocked underground bunker.

Port1aCastis · 09/03/2023 07:52

No point getting a warning because a nuclear attack would wipe us out so may as well stick your head between your legs and kiss your arse goodbye as my dear Mother says.

Calistan · 09/03/2023 07:54

I might be being naive but I think the whole nuclear war is a bit overblown. I doubt humans as a whole would die out. Most of the films and things were made during an era where people thought it could happen.

Original poster
shineanight · 09/03/2023 07:54

Calistan · 09/03/2023 07:54

I might be being naive but I think the whole nuclear war is a bit overblown. I doubt humans as a whole would die out. Most of the films and things were made during an era where people thought it could happen.

True

OP posts:
CrapBucket · 09/03/2023 07:54

I just need enough time to create a WELCOME ALIENS placard, put my bikini on and climb to the roof of a skyscraper.

Or have I got the wrong film...

Calistan · 09/03/2023 07:56

I do love threads though, although it's boring after the bombs hit.

romdowa · 09/03/2023 07:57

Hopefully enough time to find the iodine tablets the Irish government sent out in the 90s 😂

Spendonsend · 09/03/2023 08:01

I went to a nuclear bunker recently and it had lots of info about this. There are so many variables like size of bomb and where it goes off. I basically took away that it is worth having warning to stay indoors as you either get blasted anyway, or you dont snd there isnt much choice over that. But if you dont get blasted, saying in for the nuclear rain bit is worthwhile.

A lot of the advice was about giving people something to do that kept them out the way.

Appalonia · 09/03/2023 08:02

In the early eighties, I had recently moved out of my parents house and was renting with friends in a terraced house in the Midlands. One morning at 6am I was woken up by the sound of the air raid siren! Both my flatmates were away so I was on my own. I had no idea what to do and this was well before the days of mobile phones or Twitter. I was terrified.

Eventually it stopped and thankfully no bombs were dropped but it was a very surreal experience. Many years later I found out it had been set off by accident, someone must have had egg on their face that day!

Port1aCastis · 09/03/2023 08:02

Don't think we'd get breaking news because the aggressors would knock out communication networks

IrritableVowel · 09/03/2023 08:04

romdowa · 09/03/2023 07:57

Hopefully enough time to find the iodine tablets the Irish government sent out in the 90s 😂

There is probably a stash with the electronic polling stations...

wonders if polling station can be repurposed into a bunker 🤔

purplediscolove · 09/03/2023 08:05

What a pointless thread and why would you want to get people to start thinking about this On a Thursday morning before 8am. Your just curious but I’ll encourage everyone else to just worry about it

Strongboat · 09/03/2023 08:07

PlaitBilledDuckyPuss · 09/03/2023 07:52

Back in the 1980s, it was put out by the government that we would - the 'six minute warning'. There isn't much you could do, though, unless you have access to a fully stocked underground bunker.

Wasn't it a four minute warning? Or am I misremembering?

PandasAreUseless · 09/03/2023 08:08

Even if we got a warning, what good would it do?
Do you have a fall-out shelter within a 2 minute walk of your home, with enough food, water and medical supplies to last you a year? I don't.
If we get nuked, we're all toast - just as we would be if an asteroid ever strikes - so don't waste time worrying about it.

stbrandonsboat · 09/03/2023 08:10

OP, you only need to raise concern about a nuclear attack if it's on the front page of the daily mail that day. It's not on anybody radar if it's not. We have better things to think about.

Coordination is key 😉

HouseofHolbein · 09/03/2023 08:10

@Strongboat it was definitely a 4 minute warning

bussteward · 09/03/2023 08:12

I don’t want a warning. Imagine how many batshit MN threads could erupt in the space of six minutes. I want to die as I have lived: arguing about loo brushes and MILs on the internet.

Calistan · 09/03/2023 08:12

It was all propaganda, still is. A terrified population is a pliable population.

Leftbutcameback · 09/03/2023 08:13

The nuclear bunker ☢️ in Kelvedon is definitely worth a visit and is fascinating. Also there’s a podcast about this kind of thing which I’d recommend shows.acast.com/atomichobo

Calistan · 09/03/2023 08:16

This is a daft thread

Mammillaria · 09/03/2023 08:18

EmptyPlaces · 09/03/2023 07:29

A warning would be useless anyway. The power of them today means that if one hit Paris, the UK would be mostly wiped out in a nuclear winter. I’d rather just take a direct hit and be vaporised immediately.

Not necessarily true. They exist in many sizes and nuclear winter would only occur under a fairly specific set of circumstances (payload, height of detonation, weather, etc)

However I do agree that if I was near the impact point I'd definitely rather take a hit!

A 5 minute warning would be useful if you were well outside the impact zone, but potentially affected by fallout. You would typically get around 15 minutes before the fallout starts to affect people at ground level, and an extra 5 minutes would be useful time to either get home or into a building and take basic steps to minimise the impact of the fallout. Take a look at the European fallout map for the Chernobyl disaster for an idea of how far radioactive fallout can travel. 24 hours inside your home/office/school with some fairly basic precautions against the fallout is likely to lower the chances of developing long and short term symptoms of radiation poisoning amongst people who will survive either way.

davegrohll · 09/03/2023 08:20

Is it Switzerland where they have shit loads of underground bunkers still?? Watched something on the news a few weeks ago about it

Ifailed · 09/03/2023 08:26

To answer OP's question, yes we'd all get a warning message on mobile phones, and the emergency broadcast network would kick in on radio and TV. There would also be warning sirens (usually from Police stations etc) where they have been maintained.
After that, the mobile network would shut down for most people, like wise the internet. Your best bet would be to live near a power station, military base or government buildings and get it all over quickly.