Time set for UK Emergency Alerts test

[6Foot2]

Link: Time set for UK Emergency Alerts test - GOV.UK

 

National test of Emergency Alerts will take place at 3pm on Sunday 23 April.

 

• Message will be received on 4G and 5G mobile phones, along with sound and vibration for up to 10 seconds
  
• Emergency Alerts enable urgent messages to be broadcast to a defined area when there is an imminent risk to life, such as wildfires or severe flooding
  
• Brings UK in line with other countries such as the US and Canada who use the system
  

A UK-wide of the life-saving public Emergency Alerts system will take place at 3pm on Sunday 23 April.

 

Following successful pilots in East Suffolk and Reading, the test of the new Emergency Alerts system will see people receive a message on the home screen of their mobile phone, along with a sound and vibration for up to ten seconds.

 

For the test, the public does not need to take any action - the sound and vibration will stop automatically after ten seconds. All people need to do is swipe away the message or click ‘OK’ on their phone’s home screen - just like for a ‘low battery’ warning or notification - and continue to use their phone as normal.

 

Emergency Alerts have already been used successfully in a number of other countries, including the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan, where it has been widely credited with saving lives, for example, during severe weather events. In the UK, alerts could be used to tell residents of villages being encroached by wildfires, or of severe flooding.

 

The Government has worked together with the emergency services and partners, including the Football Association and London Marathon, to make sure the national test has minimum impact on major events taking place on the day.

 

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden MP, said:

 

"Put the date in your diaries - at 3pm on 23 April, we’ll be testing our new national Emergency Alerts system."

 

"Getting this system operational with the national test means we have another tool in our toolkit to keep the public safe in life-threatening emergencies. It could be the sound that saves your life."

 

Chair of The National Fire Chiefs Council, Mark Hardingham, said:

 

"We must use every tool at our disposal to keep people safe, and we need everyone to play their part - and the new Emergency Alerts system is one way we can do this. For 10 seconds, the national test may be inconvenient for some, but please forgive us for the intrusion, because the next time you hear it - your life, and the life-saving actions of our emergency services, could depend on it."

 

National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Civil Contingencies, Assistant Chief Constable Owen Weatherill said:

 

"Warning and informing the public at speed during times of crises can be vital. We look forward to further developing the use of the Emergency Alerts capability and how it can have real benefits for the public to protect and preserve life, as well as supporting policing’s wider response to critical incidents with partner agencies. Alongside partners, we will continue to listen carefully to public feedback and ensure the use of Emergency Alerts has a positive impact."

 

Emergency Alerts will transform the UK’s warning and informing capability; by working with mobile broadcasting technology it will provide a means to get urgent messages quickly to nearly 90 percent of mobile phones in a defined area when there is a risk to life, and provide clear instructions about how best to respond.

 

Best practice of Emergency Alerts in other countries have shown that they work more effectively in a real emergency if people have previously received a test, so they know what an alert looks and sounds like.

 

The system will be used very rarely - only being sent where there is an immediate risk to people’s lives - so people may not receive an alert for months or years.

 

You can find out further information on Emergency Alerts, including what they look and sound like at gov.uk/alerts

 

[mikes]

It's a good idea but the objection about secret phones is a good one (people in abusive relationships may have hidden phones as a lifeline to friends and family and if this alarm reveals one, it could be bad). Thankfully this seems to be well publicised and you can turn your phone off at the specified time to avoid it.

Wonder if they'll end up making a silent less intrusive bulletin board you can check when you want, for notices of e.g. missing people like an electronic version of the US Amber Alert ??

[hardtailstar]

I thought they were going to do it after the London Marathon, as in changing it to the evening! There will still be runners at 15:00 plus the amount of people that will be in London that day.

[elsiegee40]

I thought they were going to do it after the London Marathon, as in changing it to the evening! There will still be runners at 15:00 plus the amount of people that will be in London that day.

 

They’re doing it between the main event and the FA Cup semi final. It’s impossible to time it for when nothing is happening.

[FN-GM]

imminent risk to life, such as wildfires or severe flooding

 

Holding short of saying an attack from Russia.... Isn't this essentially a modern version of what they had during the cold war, then didn't maintain after the collapse of the USSR?

[Andrew_C]

Quite a lot more granular. Can be triggered at cell level; thus fires, industrial incidents, floods, etc are within the scope.

[Rob_D]

They’re doing it between the main event and the FA Cup semi final. It’s impossible to time it for when nothing is happening.

 

And perhaps they're going for earlier rather than later so as not cause disruption with trying to get younger kids to sleep.

 

It's a good idea but the objection about secret phones is a good one (people in abusive relationships may have hidden phones as a lifeline to friends and family and if this alarm reveals one, it could be bad). Thankfully this seems to be well publicised and you can turn your phone off at the specified time to avoid it.

 

Someone should really be advertising that these notifications can be disabled at the system level for these situations. Turning the phone off in advance is all well and good for the advertised test, but isn't really a long term solution as you won't know when a real emergency ping is coming through. Where as the emergency warning notifications can be disabled permanently on the second phone without effecting anything else, and they still get the warnings on their primary/known-about device.

[DalekSec]

Moment of silence for everyone with a secret second phone that's about to get found out..

[gaz350b]

Experienced this in New York last Easter when there was a gun man on the loose after a terror attack on a tube station.

 

I guess by doing a nation wide test it allows the system to be tested at scale.

 

In California I believe they also use it when power levels get critical and it’s been shown to prevent black outs.

[elsiegee40]

Well that was OK. Ish. Father in law’s EE phone went off first at 14:59 followed by mine on Virgin mobile and my husband’s failed to go off. My Mum has an iPad with a SIM that isn’t on wifi and that didn’t go off either she tells me. Edited April 23, 2023 by elsiegee40

[jmak]

Four people in our house currently - 50% failure rate. Two on O2 and two on Vodafone. One of each worked [emoji2371]

[elsiegee40]

Mr gee40’s phone went off 15 minutes late!

 

I know of 4 people on Three who haven’t had it

[Dos_Box]

Mine still hasn't arrived (on Three), I'm now waiting for it to wait for me to let my guard down before it scares the pants off me!

[Jobos]

With Smarty and none of our households phones and had the alert. Time now 3:23

[southhamster]

Only just got mine but we do have rubbish reception here. I only got the audio warning no popups.

[6Foot2]

As expected here. Spot on 3:00 pm. Provider: Tesco Mobile. [My phone only, as 5Foot2 is on Norfolk for the week, and 6Foot4 is upstairs, playing a computer game (probably!)] However, we are all on Tesco Mobile.

[Guest Guest]

Had mine dead on 3, I’m with sky

[Dos_Box]

The BBC have an article up about it and Three get a mention for largely failing - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65367282

[mikes]

I have unreliable signal on an old phone, usually by the time my phone starts vibrating and actually allows me to answer the call, the person phoning has actually been waiting 7 - 8 seconds and usually hangs up before I can answer. Probably my older phone rather than Vodafone themselves. But the Alert came through basically dead on 3PM. I'd forgotten it was coming and it did frighten me a bit! That sound you usually hear in disaster movies or video games! (well I guess the sound does what it is designed to do!)

[elsiegee40]

Explanation as to why the message failed for most people on Three (or carried by Three eg Smarty)

 

 

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by elsiegee40

[Norphy]

I got it twice - once at 3pm and again about ten minutes later. Happened to be driving at the time and the first time it made me jump out of my skin. I’m on Vodafone.

 

My work phone, on an EE mvno, got it at 2.59 according to its notification history.

[ltough06]

Ah, that makes sense. Was confused at first when my phone which is on the SMARTY network didn't get the alert until I found out it was a problem with the Three network. I wonder if there will be another test at some point due to Three's failure?

[Andrew_C]

Not a squeak from mine - O2.

[Rob_D]

Mine went off (giffgaff/O2) but surprisingly quietly. I didn't hear the beep over the TV, but became aware my pocket was talking after a moment.

[Davit2005]

Both my EE and Vodaphone mobiles went off at the same time.