Government alert?!?!

[hotmumshit]

Omg? First use of the government phone alerts, i think??

I don't think there were Covid ones were there? We had the test ones (well dh got them, I didn't) and then locally one for a storm warning. When at home I often get two as the signal is up and down and it can sometimes pick different masts up (so I'm told).

Scotland and N Ireland are often blue on the weather map!
Don’t think you’re as tinder dry as we are further south - our grass is yellow/brown and we’re classed as north.

It would be incredibly dangerous for some people if they couldn’t be turned off.

For example someone with a second phone making plans to flee an abusive relationship could be put in serious danger if suddenly a hidden phone went off.

Women’s aid did a big thing about how to turn them off when the first test one was going to happen.

Absolutely stupid! If it’s used for ridiculous things like that then people will turn it off or won’t pay attention when it’s really needed. The boy who cried wolf..

Yes Dd came out her room and translated from the top of the stairs for me. Dh said handy we'll be ready ahead of None Welsh speakers if we're under attack.
I thought it might be weather related as it had gone so cloudy and dark. We've had weather alerts before for high winds, all we got was a piece of someone's shed roof from the wind god, I was hoping for something more interesting.

One reason is for people who do not want those around them to know they have a phone (victims of domestic abuse for example).
It's recommended to only turn it off if you have to, it could potentially be life saving.

Well looks like the local yobs have taken the message as a challenge.

One of the fields behind me is now on fire. It's private agricultural land with no public access so the only way it will be alight is by deliberate arson.

Luckily it was spotted early ( no need for a national emergency alert, we could all see and smell it) and is now pretty much out.

Boy who cries wolf springs to mind. Now everyone's turning off their alerts 😕

I agree. Can't they send a normal warning message without the scary noise? It should be for things that are imminent threats, otherwise people will start to ignore them in future.

It was introduced in March 2023 (according to Google). Nothing to do with Covid.

Yes that's what I thought.

Yeah, you could probably say the same about ambulance and fire engine sirens...

I had one in Spain a few months ago. We were on a fast motorway near the sea and got the alert to move inland due to big waves and wind.. Nearly careened into the bloody sea.

Because it was an alert. What would you like to happen? Interviews on all the news channels saying, "We'll send you an important message about fire safety/flood/armed men in your town in 2 hours; make sure you read it"

They must regard the whole of the UK to be under immediate threat.
I don't think that's unreasonable for large parts of the UK which are in drought conditions and wild fires a high risk.

A prolonged alert on your phone is not an everyday thing like sirens.
And if you are driving, you are not allowed to turn it off if it means touching your phone.

For most of us in Wales the actual message is less of a discussion point than the fact we all had to wait a few minutes to read it in English!

I think emergency vehicles get our attention and make us on high alert, but the gov alert noise is one most of us are not at all used to. It's not strange for it to have alarmed people.

We have had two bad fires, at least one of which could have been avoided by banning disposable barbecues at the start of summer.

We are definitely not as tinderbox-like as England, but we still have people going about saying “Lovely weather we’re having” when actually no, 27C may feel nice and warm but is actually a massive alarm bell! When I was a kid in 00s, 18C was considered unseasonably warm!

Of course the irony is that today is the last day of hot weather, and rain is forecast within the next 48 hours. There will be no more 30° temperatures this year. The two-month-long heatwave is now finished and so of course today is the day they send out the alert 😂

We were enjoying an evening event at the zoo and specifically in the woodland section with the bears and wolves at the time. With all the alarms going off I thought we had an escapee and it scared the life out of me!

But I'd rather these things go out than not. I'm off to check my settings because I couldn't read the full message before it disappeared which is a bit useless.

We don't have any rain forecast for the next 5 days at least here.

I got the first one at seven and a second one about 15 minutes ago. Very strange!

I have switched mine off but I heard next doors anyway. Husband miffed as he starts work at 3am so was asleep in bed.

I don't disagree that wildfires are a threat - they've been awful for months here, smoke across big parts of the region, and national politicians seem to have ignored them. Everyone already knows about them.

I think the loud warning sound should be for "imminent emergency, stop whatever you are doing and look at your phone right now", there should be a lesser level for "here's a message we want to send everyone in general", without the piercing noise.