Emergency alerts to your phone

[TheFirstOfHerName]

From April, the government will be able to send emergency alerts to our mobile phones.

www.gov.uk/alerts

A siren will go off, even if your phone is on silent. You won't be able to do anything else on your phone until you turn it off. They plan to test this on 23 April.

I understand the reasons why this can be helpful, and in areas where people need to suddenly evacuate due to wildfires, earthquakes, tornadoes etc it could save lives.

However, personally I don't want it, and have disabled it on my phone.

1. Of the emergencies I might experience, I'm not sure I'd want to be alerted to any of them via this method. If a flood or storm is imminent, I'll find out through the usual channels. If a nuclear missile is heading my way, having a few minutes' warning will not help.

1. This system is being run / overseen by the UK government, and my trust in them has been somewhat eroded over the past few years.

1. I have an anxiety disorder (reasonably well managed with combination of medication and other methods) and I think the cost to my anxiety levels of having my phone suddenly sirenning at me outweighs the negligible probability of this system saving my life.

If you are the kind of calm, resilient person who could have these alarms going off and it not completely throw you, then great.

My phone has the option to alert people that I chose in case of an emergency. I have to press the side button 3 times in a row. And my watch has fall detection. You could set those up.

why would it cause mass panic and injury?

Other countries use these alerts and they save lives

Arer the UK population particularly low intelligence do you think? Is that what you are arguing? We are too thick to cope with being given safety instructions in an emergency???

We could have certainly used this in the local wild fires we had last summer, and are likely to have again, it isn't a once in a 1000 year occurrence, is it? Nor are flash floods, which are becoming ever more likely and ever more dangerous. Toxic pollution happens quite regularly all around the word too.

You are making absolutely no sense.

first argument - we don't suffer natural disasters- yes we do, and will do more so, and this isn't just for natural disasters, but many other (manmade) eventualities, such as a toxic pollution incident, etc.

second argument - we can get the information from the news - but only if it is constantly being checked, so noone who is working, or asleep, or away from the TV for any reason, such as having a life.

third argument - "in the grand scheme of things" "there are more important things to worry about" - more important than safety information that can cheaply and easily save lives in a deadly emergency - right. Ok

fourth argument - the UK population is too thick to cope with being given safety information in an emergency - well, if you genuinely feel you personally are too thick to cope with being given safety information in an emergency, then by all means, cut yourself off from it, but most normal people wont.

Like I said, it is people who somehow think that reflexive noncompliance makes them clever and superior that is against this, not anyone who actually has the sense to properly think about it and evaluate it

I don’t necessarily want to know if I’m asleep! If a meteorite is going to hit or we’re going to be nuked I’d rather go in my sleep thanks. If someone is missing I won’t be doing anything until the morning so it can wait.

@Nimbostratus100 We don't suffer from natural disasters, a few houses burned down, extremely rare and no lives lost
Flash floods? the EA have advanced warning alerting vulnerable households, via email, mobile and landline.

We had a tidal surge half a century ago.

Panic causes injuries and death and i think it would be very difficult to evacuate a large city safely in a few hours, let alone a few minutes, esp as meteor strikes are highly unpredictable, precise location is almost impossible until its too late.

Manchester etc isn't going to be hit by wild fires.

We don't have Tsunami warning systems in the Atlantic.

You like the Govt are over reacting, in Hurricane prone areas etc yes a good idea but the UK isn't.

we haven't suffered from recent natural disasters, but the UK has in the past and will again suffer tsunamis, and there will be more and worse wild fires, an plenty of others manmade problems, like water pollution, toxic clouds, etc.

Other people in the world dont panic and kill each other when there is an alert - I am repeating myself over and over again.

When will the next major tsunami deluge the south West? You don't know, not do I, nor does the government - hence the alert.

When will the next major pollution event contaminate tap water - ditto

I just don't understand people who say we don't have disasters - (natural or manmade) as if we are somehow immune or superior

we are not

just we have been lucky recently

Didn’t we all get some alerts about covid lockdown already? I’m not sure about a siren going off, maybe for significant, unpredicted events which are a risk to life. I can’t think of very many instances where that would be the case.

Didn’t we all get some alerts about covid lockdown already?

Yes we did and very annoying they were too. Stating the blindingly obvious and far too generic and patronising to be of any use whatsoever.

If the Govt wants to use my mobile phone to further their own agenda then they can pay for it.

When will the next major tsunami deluge the south West? You don't know, not do I, nor does the government - hence the alert

At risk of repeating myself... WE have no Tsunami Western Atlantic warning systems, so what exactly is the use of an alert in this circumstance?
The Portuguese Tsunami was caused by an earth quake 100miles offshore, it took minutes to reach Spain/Portugal & was 100s of years ago, so if i lived in Portugal i might want to consider moving to higher ground!

The one that is believed to have hit the north east of England was 800 years ago, caused by a land slip in Norway. ... there has been TWO in all of recorded history.

Its a non issue, focus on things that matter, like getting an Ambulance for that stroke or heart attack victim, instead of imaginary threats... this is just more Govt dead cat stories.

i live 1000ft above sea level so im sure ill be fine during a flood.

putin? Well too late if that missile comes.

earthquake? Im sure ill know about it before that alert arrives

mine is off. Im really not into this scaremongering.

Has the test happened? I didn’t get anything

It's the 23 April.

I'd rather we all get forced to have this alert than when we all got U2s album

no.

There has been two proven

There have been others

And there will likely be around 2-3 hours warning, possibly more

and there will be "the big one" eventually

It's got absolutely zero to do with missing children, FFS.

🙄

Yes, the govt website lists adverse weather and fires. Either we're being kept in the dark and fed shit, or it's for adverse weather and fires..

Yep but someone back in the thread on MN decided that missing children was the way to tug at the heart strings and make sure that those who were saying they wouldn't comply looked like evil child killing monsters - and, this being MN, it's ran with hypothetical missing kiddies for about 9bajillion pages now.

I can live without the weather alerts - the weather's been insufferable since they started naming storms. Prior to having Storm Twinkletoes we just had a bit of a comment that the weather was going to be bad out - now it's all "danger to life" and every exposed spot must contain a completely frozen news reporter in a North Face jacket clearly wishing they were back at the warm studio and wanting to murder colleagues who are - reporting on the fact it's cold wet and windy out. Almost makes me nostalgic for the "no, there's definitely not going to be a hurricane days."

You forgot to mention that warm two days last summer when we all died because we didn't know how to cope with weather that we usually have to go abroad for.

Oh I mean we didn't die because we all stayed the fuck at home as advised. Beaches and air conditioned cafes and ice cream parlours were empty, thankfully as cool sea breezes and air conditioning can be deadly.

...and isn't the abusive language directed at people who aren't fully on board with this completely remininscent of the abuse directed at anyone who dared argue against any of the covid narrative?

Give the Govt tools to engender a LITTLE fear and the general population will police itself to terrifying levels.

As for what I do when I get a scam text - get irritated, add it to blocked users... oh wait - just what you're being abusive for people daring to do here.

God, what do you do when you get a scam text or call?

A siren doesn't go off when I get a scam text or call as my phone is usually on silent.

@CoffeeWithCheese A common denomenator im seeing from the usual suspects is on this thread its "please think of the kids" while on another thread its "kids in Spain only had to stay in their homes for six weeks which is nothing and if you are a decent parent you would have managed"

Always goalpost moving

I’m abusive because I called someone out for making fun of people who did die during the heatwaves? Ok. Like I said, if you don’t want the alert don’t have it but don’t be a dick to those who do.

Boring to be bringing covid up 🥱 I never commented on anything to do with covid, I share the same sentiment - people can do what they want but don’t be insensitive or a dickhead to those who are worried etc. ✌️ 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

@JenniferBooth I'm on the other thread as well. It's like going back in time! MN at it's worst.

Yes, definite feeling of deja vu.
I got shit on FB for not having the covid app. My phone was too old! My fault... should have bought a newer one to "save gran".