Phones to blast out ’emergency alarm’ as UK warned to prepare for war,
The UK will test its emergency alarm system for the first time in two years, as the Government warns Britain to prepare for war.
All UK devices will blast out an alarm tone later this year in a new test of the ‘Emergency Alert System’.
First launched in 2023, this system is designed to warn the public if there is a danger to life nearby.
This latest test comes as the Government’s security strategy warns that the UK homeland could come under ‘direct threat’ in a ‘wartime scenario’.
The renewed testing of the emergency system also comes at a time when escalating conflict in the Middle East has sparked concerns of a wider war between nuclear powers.
When it was first tested, the emergency system sent a message to phones which read: ‘Severe Alert. This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there’s a life-threatening emergency nearby.
‘In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe.
‘Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information. This is a test. You do not need to take any action.’
The Emergency Alert System was designed to quickly inform the public of an impending threat.
According to the Government, this could include severe flooding, wildfires, or extreme weather events.
Once the alert is sent, all phones in the affected area will make a loud siren-like sound, vibrate, and read out the warning.
The sound and vibration will trigger even if your phone is set to silent.
The Government does not need to know your phone number in order to send the message, and all phones will automatically trigger the alert.
The next nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System will occur at some point in the coming year.
However, the exact date is yet to be announced.
After this year’s test, the Emergency Alert System will continue to be tested once every two years.
Similar systems are already used widely across a number of other countries, primarily for natural disaster preparation.
Japan has one of the world’s most sophisticated systems, which combines satellite and cell broadcast technology.
This system forms part of a wider scheme called J-ALERT that informs the public in case of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic activity, or missile threats.
South Korea frequently uses its national cell broadcast system to alert citizens about issues ranging from weather alerts and civil emergencies to local missing persons cases.
The US has a similar system to the UK that utilises ‘wireless emergency alerts’ to send messages that look like texts with a unique sound and vibration pattern.
The announcement of the UK’s upcoming emergency alert test comes at a time when more people are growing worried about the threat of war.
The latest version of the Government’s defence strategy, published earlier this week, lays out a chilling warning that the UK is no longer safe from military threats.
The report states: ‘For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario.’
In a foreword to the report, Prime Minister Keir Starmer adds: ‘The world has changed. Russian aggression menaces our continent. Strategic competition is intensifying. Extremist ideologies are on the rise. Technology is transforming the nature of both war and domestic security.’
At the same time, the world has been carefully watching the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel in the Middle East.
After US forces bombed Iran’s primary nuclear weapons development facility, the nation’s leadership has vowed to strike back if there are further attacks.
Amid mounting concerns, a number of European countries have taken measures to improve their citizens’ readiness.
Earlier this year, the EU issued advice to its nearly 450 million residents to stockpile emergency supplies to last 72 hours.
The warning told people across 27 countries to build up a store of bottled water, energy bars, torches, and waterproof pouches for IDs.
Citizens could also access a handbook to help prepare against ‘various crises, from potential conflict to climate disasters, pandemics and cyber threats.’
Likewise, the French government released a 20-page survival manual detailing how to protect yourself during armed conflict, natural disasters, and industrial accidents such as nuclear leaks.
What is the Doomsday clock and what does it mean?
What is the Doomsday Clock?
The Doomsday Clock was created by the Bulletin, an independent non-profit organization run by some of the world’s most eminent scientists.
It was founded by concerned US scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, which developed the world’s first nuclear weapons during World War II.
In 1947, they established the clock to provide a simple way of demonstrating the danger to the Earth and humanity posed by nuclear war.
The Doomsday Clock not only takes into account the likelihood of nuclear Armageddon but also other emerging threats such as climate change and advances in biotechnology and artificial intelligence.
It is symbolic and represents a countdown to possible global catastrophe.
The decision to move, or leave the clock alone, is made by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, in consultation with the bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, which includes 16 Nobel laureates.
The clock has become a universally recognised indicator of the world’s vulnerability to catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, and emerging technologies in life sciences.
In 2020, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, an expert group formed in 1945, adjusted the Doomsday Clock 100 seconds to midnight, the closest we’ve ever come to total destruction – and it remained there in 2021.
That sent a message that the Earth was closer to oblivion than any time since the early days of hydrogen bomb testing and 1984, when US-Soviet relations reached ‘their iciest point in decades.’
The Bulletin also considered world leaders response to the coronavirus pandemic, feeling it was so poor that the clock needed to remain in its perilously close to midnight position.
The closer to midnight the clock moves the closer to annihilation humanity is.
How has the clock changed since 1947?
- 1947 – 48: 7 minutes
- 1949 – 52: 3 minutes
- 1953 – 59: 2 minutes
- 1960 – 62: 7 minutes
- 1963 – 67: 12 minutes
- 1968: 7 minutes
- 1969 – 71: 10 minutes
- 1972 – 73: 12 minutes
- 1974 – 79: 9 minutes
- 1980: 7 minutes
- 1981 – 83: 4 minutes
- 1984 – 87: 3 minutes
- 1988 – 89: 6 minutes
- 1990: 10 minutes
- 1991 – 94: 17 minutes
- 1995 – 97: 14 minutes
- 1998 – 2001: 9 minutes
- 2002 – 06: 7 minutes
- 2007 – 09: 5 minutes
- 2010 – 11: 6 minutes
- 2012 – 14: 5 minutes
- 2015 – 16: 3 minutes
- 2017 – 2.5 minutes
- 2018 – 2 minutes
- 2019 – 2 minutes
- 2020 – 100 seconds
- 2021 – 100 seconds
- 2022 – 100 seconds
- 2023 – 90 seconds
- 2024 – 90 seconds
