LONDON: Millions of mobile phones across the United Kingdom sounded a siren simultaneously on Sunday during a nationwide emergency alert test.
The drill prompted a temporary pause in England’s third ODI cricket match against South Africa and delayed kick-off for a rugby league fixture to avoid disruption.
At 3:00 pm local time, phones and tablets emitted the alarm noise and vibrated for approximately 10 seconds while displaying a message confirming it was only a test.
This marked only the second test of the country’s national emergency alert system following the initial trial in 2023.
The government conducted an extensive publicity campaign in recent weeks to minimise public shock, including announcements at railway stations and motorway signage.
Authorities have used the system to issue genuine warnings to local areas on five occasions over the past two years.
In January, approximately 4.5 million people in Scotland and Northern Ireland received an alert during Storm Eowyn after meteorologists issued a red weather warning indicating potential risk to life.
A 500-kilogram unexploded Second World War bomb discovered in a southwest England garden triggered an alert to some 50,000 phones in February last year.
The system is designed for deployment during Britain’s most likely emergencies where there exists a possibility of loss of life.
Warnings would also be broadcast through television, radio and where appropriate via door-to-door notifications.
Similar alert systems operate in the United States and Japan.
Only devices connected to 4G or 5G networks received Sunday’s test alert.
The test occurred as officials work to strengthen national resilience amid increasing extreme weather events and concerns regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The government published a Resilience Action Plan in July which also referenced the coronavirus pandemic upheaval, US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and cyber attacks. – AFP
