General Chat

https://www.gov.uk/alerts?fbclid=IwAR2YTsH1-iKnqp5vxGZcBYQtm0kaTdvniQATRivoKtGIt9W0dF8kHLIS0VM


you may thank me below :-D

For those who are too timid to open links.....
It's an early warning alarm so best get your tin hats dusted.

Thank you, Island ;-)

Thanks Island :-0

Thankyou Island :-D

This is the bit that gets me:

"What you need to do
When you get an alert, stop what you’re doing and follow the instructions in the alert.

If you’re driving or riding when you get an alert
You should not read or otherwise respond to an emergency alert whilst driving or riding a motorcycle.
If you are driving, you should continue to drive and not respond to the noise or attempt to pick up the mobile phone and deal with the message.
Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message. If there is nowhere safe or legal to stop close by, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, tune into live radio and wait for bulletins until you can find somewhere safe and legal to stop.
It is illegal to use a hand-held device while driving or riding".


But, it appears, it's okay for the Government to send unsolicited, distracting noises to your phone with no explanation about WHY they're actually doing this - or what they hope to achieve - apart from giving some 'chums' a job or two using our money, of course.

Oh, and it seems it's okay to take your eyes off the road to tune your radio when the Government say so!!. :-( :-\

Luckily my mobile is too old to get the alert.

Church services could be very interesting if all the phones go off. More worrying is that if you are driving or riding and don’t know it is going to happen then you could have an accident - crashing the car or being thrown by your horse ( riding).

Yes I agree Maggie, its rather ambiguous isn't it!!

But re flood alerts, you sign up to SEPA and they send alerts if your area is likely to be flooded. They just send a text, no loud siren!

Yes names, I thought about that too, as when my interconnected smoke alarms went off last year late at night for no apparent reason, I did actually have a panic attack and the noise with all alarms going off together was deafening.

I get an alarm on mine quite often for an emergency test but I have not worked out what emergency they mean :-S :-S :-S :-S :-D

hmmm...... 'what can we do next to frighten the pants off the plebs and give one of our own loads of their money at the same time'?

:-| :-| :-|

"If you do not have a compatible device, you’ll still be informed about an emergency. The emergency services have other ways to warn you when there is a threat to life."

That sounds sinister.
What other ways?

We have ways of making you talk.

Well our town centre was under water today at high tide, a canoe was the only safe method of travel until the drains went down. No alarm sent here but it was posted on local news and FB yesterday that people in certain areas were at risk of flooding yesterday for early today.

It was also on tv on local news so we were well informed in other ways.

"An alert will include a phone number or a link to the GOV.UK website for more information."

That's assuming the phone line and/or website can cope with the sudden large amount of traffic .

I was talking to someone in Fire and Rescue about this recently and he said there are other considerations that need sorting before a general alarm is sent out.
He mentioned that sometimes vulnerable adults, who might be subject to domestic abuse are encouraged to have a private extra mobile, so that they can call for help away from their 'known' phone.
Imagine the situation if an alarm suddenly sounds on a hidden device :-0

Those people would need to have a basic phone without internet, or else opt out of the alerts:


".Opting out of emergency alerts
You can opt out of emergency alerts, but you should keep them switched on for your own safety.
To opt out:
Search your settings for ‘emergency alerts’.
Turn off ‘severe alerts’ and ‘extreme alerts’.
If you still get alerts, contact your device manufacturer for help."


"Reasons you will not get an alert
You will not receive alerts if your device is:

turned off or in airplane mode
connected to a 2G or 3G network
wifi only
not compatible


Compatible mobile phones and other devices
Make sure your device has all the latest software updates.
Emergency alerts work on:

iPhones running iOS 14.5 or later
Android phones and tablets running Android 11 or later
If you have an earlier version of Android, you may still be able to receive alerts. To check, search your device settings for ‘emergency alerts’.

https://www.gov.uk/alerts/how-alerts-work#compatible-devices

Let's hope the Government /local Councils don't decide that a smartphone warning about flooding, rather than the battered roadsigns would be better.

My mobile is Android 9 and I cant find any alerts in settings!

In that case, you won't receive them, Florence.

Mine is Android 11. The alerts come under "Apps and Notifications" and then "Advanced" and "Wireless Emergency Alerts".

But as that phone is mostly switched off, I won't get them either
I prefer to use my small, lightweight, trusty Nokia 1100, which is definitely not "smart".

I take it back AG, following your directions as opposed to what i read on google, i have found alerts and listened to the sound it makes. Its actually ok and not as noisy as my smoke detector.

Ty for showing where to find the alerts. Mine is listed below App permissions.