Poll: Public emergency alerts to be sent to all UK mobile phones

Did you receive the Alert?

  • Yes

    Votes: 137 55.7%

  • No

    Votes: 109 44.3%
  • Total voters
    246
So weeks of poeple whinging that they were going to be sent the text only for the very same people to whinge they didn't get it.

Then you've got the people whinging about why the government need to test the system at all only to then whinge when the test wasn't 100% successful.

Finally you've got the people that genuinely think they are rebelling against the oppressive regime by switching the alerts off only to keep them on for fear of missing out on social media.

All the above should be banned from receiving these texts as they are expendable in an emergency.. :D
 
ianh said:
The deliberate lack of information provided by the Government over exactly what specific situations these alerts would be broadcast out for (rather than the worthless "may get" statement provided so far) is a direct cause for many people switching them off and I don't blame people for doing that.

If the Gov want people to do something they have to explain why its beneficial and, as always, the Gov (irrespective of party) uses the most worthless of PR to pass on their message, leaving people confused and untrusting of something which "may" be of actual benefit in the future.
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What scenarios are valid in your eyes?
 
aVdub said:
Information -----------> https://www.gov.uk/alerts

Which was incredibly difficult to find using yoghurt cartons, string and double sided tape.
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Oh great wizened old wise one, please tell me on this website what the specific alerts are you mental giant I beseech thee, because all I see is the same "you 'MAY' get them for the following 3 things - flooding, fire & weather" rubbish rather than a broken down list of exactly what i.e the website says "fire" - what fire, how far away do I have to be from the fire, how big is the fire, is the fire coming my way, is it for small house fires like my street or is it for giant wildfires when I live in a city, what about the smoke from small industrial fires which maybe toxic will that be covered, will you tell me about a fire in Cornwall if I live in Scotland, what if the fire is moving away from me, will you give me a safe route if I need to evacuate or will you just tell me "FIRE!" etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc?????????

Now, ignoring both of our sarcasm and condescension, is there a list of exactly what the alerts are for - the answer is NO - and until the Gov give people a defined list, lots of people will switch them off making it worthless as a system, hence my post.
 
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ianh said:
Oh great wizened old wise one, please tell me on this website what the specific alerts are for you mental giant, I beseech thee because all I see is the same "you 'MAY' get them for the following 3 things" rubbish rather than a broken down list of exactly what i.e the website says "fire" - what fire, how far away do I have to be from the fire, how big is the fire, is the fire coming my way, is it for small house fires like my street or is it for giant wildfires when I live in a city, what about the smoke from small industrial fires which maybe toxic will that be covered, will you tell me about a fire in Cornwall if I live in Scotland, what if the fire is moving away from me, will you give me a safe route if I need to evacuate or will you just tell me "FIRE!" etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc?????????

Now, ignoring both of our sarcasm and condescension, is there a list of exactly what the alerts are for - the answer is NO - and until the Gov give people a definfed list, lots of people will switch them off making it worthless as a system, hence my post.
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I'm just back from skiing in the US, I was getting them whenever there was a snow storm. I hope the threshold here is a bit higher than that!
 
ianh said:
Oh great wizened old wise one, please tell me on this website what the specific alerts are you mental giant I beseech thee, because all I see is the same "you 'MAY' get them for the following 3 things - flooding fire, weather" rubbish rather than a broken down list of exactly what i.e the website says "fire" - what fire, how far away do I have to be from the fire, how big is the fire, is the fire coming my way, is it for small house fires like my street or is it for giant wildfires when I live in a city, what about the smoke from small industrial fires which maybe toxic will that be covered, will you tell me about a fire in Cornwall if I live in Scotland, what if the fire is moving away from me, will you give me a safe route if I need to evacuate or will you just tell me "FIRE!" etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc?????????

Now, ignoring both of our sarcasm and condescension, is there a list of exactly what the alerts are for - the answer is NO - and until the Gov give people a definfed list, lots of people will switch them off making it worthless as a system, hence my post.
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Young and not one to follow the news tbh, but found it rather easy to find and fully understood how it was written, that examples may be....

Now perhaps we/you/me/thems could write up a list of scenarios (which is my favourite movie btw) and suggest the Gov include them on that Gov website ;)

Bomb found down the road
Large fire near house
Fat bird looking for rent payer spotted nearby
Flood
 
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Cabinet Office to review outcome of test​

The Cabinet Office has said it will be reviewing the outcome of the test following reports of some mobile phones not receiving the alert.
The department said officials were aware that a "very small proportion of mobile users on some networks did not receive it".
A UK Government spokesman said: "We have effectively completed the test of the UK-wide Emergency Alerts system, the biggest public communications exercise of its kind ever done.

"We are working with mobile network operators to review the outcome and any lessons learned."
 
ianh said:
is there a list of exactly what the alerts are for - the answer is NO - and until the Gov give people a defined list, lots of people will switch them off making it worthless as a system, hence my post.
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I don't think so really. I think you're in a very small little niche minority of Norberts who are immensely particular about exactly what data may or may not become an alert you might hear one day.

99% of people will do one of the following:

a) Leave them on because no big deal

b) Turn them off because don't like noises

c) Get their first notification and then turn them off because don't like noises

Insisting on knowing precisely why you might get an emergency alert before the event occurs, and wanting a list of categories in order to pre-select your preference now... It's just a bit special.
 
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Never got one on my mobile and this function is certainly switched on. In fact I got a couple of local warnings earlier in the year regarding high winds.

So unless I notice the mushroom cloud over towards the River Nith, Sellafield formally Windscale is over that way (this must surely be a first strike target), then I'm unlikely to get much warning that the Armageddon has begun :eek:
 
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