UK Emergency Alert Tests

[Techniquest]

It doesn't require a data connection. AIUI, it uses the standard SMS infrastructure so just depends on the phone being registered on the cellular network at the time.

Surely though, if it was broadcast for 20 minutes as I read somewhere in this thread, I'd have received it. I was back in civilisation (well, Buxton) before 1520 and certainly happily sending/receiving texts between 1450 and 1520.

From what I saw of a clip on BBC News this morning, it really wasn't much to be interested in anyway. Certainly if a fairly major provider such as Three is unable to get the emergency alert broadcast correctly, then something was not right. Fortunately we will (hopefully) have plenty of time for the system to be fixed and working correctly before an actual need of the alerts comes up.

Hopefully it never needs to be used for an actual emergency, although I'd not be surprised to see it used at least once in the next few years.

 

[Broucek]

One scenario I can think of is a river that's on the verge bursting its banks - you might well be aware of the fact that it's been raining a lot, but not necessarily know when it actually happens.

I had a message about exactly this when in the US a few years ago. As it happened, I didn't actually need to know but if I'd been in a hire car then it might have been useful information

I think we have to trust that the people running the system will use it if and when it can be helpful. Whilst one might not know in which direction to run away from a maniac with a sword, knowing that such an individual is on the loose IS helpful as one can choose to be alert

 

[Bletchleyite]

Hopefully it never needs to be used for an actual emergency, although I'd not be surprised to see it used at least once in the next few years.

I suspect it will be used (Russia actually attacking excepted) in the event of evacuations due to flooding, which with climate change are more likely all the time.

I think we have to trust that the people running the system will use it if and when it can be helpful. Whilst one might not know in which direction to run away from a maniac with a sword, knowing that such an individual is on the loose IS helpful as one can choose to be alert

Or, as per my Manchester example, one might be on a train or bus, or in the car etc, and able to choose not to get out in the danger area. Or, if the danger being reported was a bomb attack on a train or bus, one can choose to alight in case there's another.

 

[Techniquest]

I suspect it will be used (Russia actually attacking excepted) in the event of evacuations due to flooding, which with climate change are more likely all the time.

Funnily enough, climate change was the reasoning in mind. As well as things like Russia, but let's not go there. I'm surprised how little the River Wye has flooded so far this year, it's behaved quite well in Hereford which is certainly unusual.

 

[jfollows]

I think we have to trust that the people running the system will use it if and when it can be helpful. Whilst one might not know in which direction to run away from a maniac with a sword, knowing that such an individual is on the loose IS helpful as one can choose to be alert

I don't have to trust these people, and from the tenor of my comments I think it's pretty clear that I don't!

 

[43096]

I think we have to trust that the people running the system will use it if and when it can be helpful. Whilst one might not know in which direction to run away from a maniac with a sword, knowing that such an individual is on the loose IS helpful as one can choose to be alert

In the same way that we trusted the official advice during the pandemic, presumably? And look where that got us.

 

[Lost property]

Does anybody by any chance actually know who is responsible for initiating this alarm, for either testing or for real ?

Thus far, I can't find any direct reference / name(s) or Dept. who will actually press the proverbial button

 

[jfollows]

Does anybody by any chance actually know who is responsible for initiating this alarm, for either testing or for real ?

Thus far, I can't find any direct reference / name(s) or Dept. who will actually press the proverbial button

https://surveys.publishing.service.gov.uk/s/A7XZXQ says Cabinet Office.
Rishi Sunak, Oliver Dowden, Jeremy Quin & Baroness Neville-Rolfe I think.

Separately, I have already seen reports of people responding to their phones sending the alert whilst driving and being caught, and will be in line for a £200 fine and 6 penalty points. I expected this, but I didn't expect to see reports quite so quickly. Presumably the police were specifically looking out for this at 3pm yesterday.

 

[birchesgreen]

Separately, I have already seen reports of people responding to their phones sending the alert whilst driving and being caught, and will be in line for a £200 fine and 6 penalty points. I expected this, but I didn't expect to see reports quite so quickly. Presumably the police were specifically looking out for this at 3pm yesterday.

Well thats one way to plug a hole in the country's finances.

 

[jfollows]

Yes, and I wonder if in a "real" life-or-death emergency alert the police can still be relied upon to dish out penalty points to people who pick up their phones?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Separately, I have already seen reports of people responding to their phones sending the alert whilst driving and being caught, and will be in line for a £200 fine and 6 penalty points. I expected this, but I didn't expect to see reports quite so quickly. Presumably the police were specifically looking out for this at 3pm yesterday.

Anyone who did is just a fool. It doesn't carry on beeping until you clear it, it beeps a few times and stops. There's no need to action it, knowing what it was (it's hardly secret).

Or put your phone in a cradle and you can't commit that offence.

(Did it pop up on Android Auto/Apple Carplay as a text would?)

 

[jon0844]

I wonder what the capacity of the mobile networks is to send a message simulatneously to all mobile phone users. I recall that at New Year's Eve when everyone tries to send messages at midnight, the system could not cope and messages were delayed.

It's not using a messaging system. It uses push-based cell broadcast, which is transmitted from every site (but can be controlled by area or individual cells) and the phone is listening for specific codes/alerts. Three failed because it didn't send sufficient numbers of alerts to take into account phones not actively monitoring the broadcast channels constantly (as that would impact battery life).

The other networks all sent the necessary alert repeatedly for a period of time, and Three somehow didn't.

No data connection is required. The reason the phone has to be 4G or 5G is because the previous standards didn't include the emergency broadcast facility.

The silly thing is cell broadcast was around since GSM in the 90s. The Government specified wanting it to work on 4G and 5G, so that's what the networks delivered. It could have worked on 2G and 3G also. 3G is in the process of being switched off, and 2G will be left mostly for SIMs in early generation smart meters, vending machines etc, so I guess the problem won't be an issue if we can avoid any major disasters until 2024/2025* (depending on what network you're on). *Vodafone has turned off 3G in some areas already.

I was in B&Q at the time. I got it, but it was completely pointless for me as my immediate reaction was to dismiss the notification to stop the noise, upon which the message vanishes. It wasn't a conscious thing I did, just an automatic reaction! I managed to catch the words "test alert" as my thumb was already committed to clearing it. Didn't hear anyone else's go off over the background music.

My work phone received it but it was at home and had stopped making a noise by the time I thought to go and check it. Not sure how long it carries on for if you ignore it.

You can retrieve the message from the phone. Also, try using the volume key to mute next time rather than pressing OK. I hope they take this into account for any future tests/activations, as well as making sure someone proof reads the text for Welsh users!

 

[Meerkat]

I'm struggling to think of any situation where a phone emergency text alert could alert me of the emergency before I was actually aware of it.

The government says the new system will be used in cases of flooding, wildfires or terror attacks. Now I'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but should I encounter any of those I'd probably be a few steps ahead of a text message....

If there are terrorists roaming around then you get the message and stayed blockaded indoors, rather than walking out onto the street to see what the fuss is all about.
If you are asleep in a basement flat how would you know a major pipe had burst and you might be about to drown before the water came in?
You wouldn't necessarily encounter flooding or a wildfire until its too late and you are trapped.

 

[jon0844]

I don't believe that anyone responsible for sending these alerts will be able to send them in anything like as time-critical a manner as you imply - you'll be told that there's a "danger" of a river bursting its banks (perhaps) but not an alert at the time it's about to happen. Just think how long it took them to attempt to send out a generic message yesterday, and even didn't manage to do this.
Which is why I've disabled the thing - it's going to be either too little, too late or it'll be a deluge of useless information about weather warnings because it's over-used.
It's an idea, a bad one in my opinion, which will be implemented poorly.
My view is that I've lived for 61 years without it and I don't need it.
But I can disable it, so that's fine with me.

The test mostly worked well yesterday. Three was the weak link, but it worked for everyone else and that was of course the whole point of doing a test. People on 3G wouldn't have got the message, but as I said above, 3G is being switched off soon and 4G is well over 10 years old now - so I doubt there's anyone with a 3G only phone anymore. The alert even worked on older versions of Android than were stated, which was more a case of 'we can be assured it will work on this or newer'.

iPhone users apparently had quite quiet alerts, so that's another thing to look at. Again, the reason for doing a test and then analysing what worked well, and what didn't.

Networks can easily broadcast a message on local sites, and they are pretty certain of the coverage of each site, so I think it could work very well for things like localised flooding, extreme weather events or even a roaming armed attacker in the area with a warning to go/stay indoors.

Vodafone used to broadcast a code for subscribers to view that showed them what area codes they could call at local rate, and that was in the early 1990s! The tech behind this isn't really that new, albeit the method is different on 4G/5G.

 

[Meerkat]

The roaming terrorist one will be a difficult call - want everyone away from them but don't want to reveal where anyone close by might be hiding. I assume they can't do a silent one that just sends the text??

 

[najaB]

The roaming terrorist one will be a difficult call - want everyone away from them but don't want to reveal where anyone close by might be hiding. I assume they can't do a silent one that just sends the text??

It's a difficult decision, but it comes down to "Potentially reveal where a few people are hiding, versus giving hundreds a chance to escape".

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The roaming terrorist one will be a difficult call - want everyone away from them but don't want to reveal where anyone close by might be hiding. I assume they can't do a silent one that just sends the text??

I dunno - I only had the message on screen but not the sound yesterday so ( Vodafone ) might have accidentally found such a setting!!

 

[Strathclyder]

I had honestly completely forgotten about this test and got quite the surprise yesterday afternoon when my phone started beeping as if a nuclear attack was imminent! Suppose that was one of the stated aims of the test.

The test mostly worked well yesterday. Three was the weak link, but it worked for everyone else and that was of course the whole point of doing a test. People on 3G wouldn't have got the message, but as I said above, 3G is being switched off soon and 4G is well over 10 years old now - so I doubt there's anyone with a 3G only phone anymore. The alert even worked on older versions of Android than were stated, which was more a case of 'we can be assured it will work on this or newer'.

Worked fine for me (beeping and all), am with Virgin.

 

[Crossover]

I had the alert yesterday - 14:58 on my work phone (O2 - my other half, also on O2, got it at exactly the same time) and around 5 minutes later on my own (VOXI - backed onto Vodafone)

One thing I noticed is that the messaging saying that the phone would be unusable until the alert was actioned seemed not to be the case - on my own phone, I didn't acknowledge it and the alert is still in my notifications.

iPhone users apparently had quite quiet alerts, so that's another thing to look at. Again, the reason for doing a test and then analysing what worked well, and what didn't.

Both my phones are iPhones and both were fairly loud, from what I recall

 

[jfollows]

Anyone who did is just a fool. It doesn't carry on beeping until you clear it, it beeps a few times and stops. There's no need to action it, knowing what it was (it's hardly secret).

Or put your phone in a cradle and you can't commit that offence.

(Did it pop up on Android Auto/Apple Carplay as a text would?)

I agree, but - rhetorical question - how many fools are out there driving currently?
The official advice (eg https://www.gov.uk/alerts) is to avoid touching your phone but instead turn on your car radio.

If you’re driving or riding when you get an alert

• Do not read or respond to an emergency alert while driving or riding.
• Find somewhere safe and legal to stop before reading the message. If there’s nowhere safe and legal to stop, and nobody else is in the vehicle to read the alert, you can listen to news on live radio to find out about the emergency.

It’s illegal to use a hand-held device while driving or riding.

That's just a bit bonkers, although it's consistent with the law as it stands, they're saying that picking up your phone is distracting whereas turning on your car radio isn't.
But it's where we are. You and I wouldn't have used our phones, I'm sure.

 

[najaB]

That's just a bit bonkers, although it's consistent with the law as it stands, they're saying that picking up your phone is distracting whereas turning on your car radio isn't.

You don't need to take your eyes off the road to listen to the radio. In a lot of cars these days you don't even need to take your hands off the wheel.

 

[75A]

Don't have to taker my hands off the wheel to answer the phone either!

 

[najaB]

Don't have to taker my hands off the wheel to answer the phone either!

Yet many people apparently were seen with their phones in their hand during this test.

 

[75A]

Yet many people apparently were seen with their phones in their hand during this test.

Depends on the car & it's age and of course the Driver.
I was watching Gaelic Football on the television @ 3pm yesterday & have had the Emergency Alerts turned off on my phone from new anyway.
My car is a Land Rover,

 

[jfollows]

Depends on the car & it's age and of course the Driver.
I was watching Gaelic Football on the television @ 3pm yesterday & have had the Emergency Alerts turned off on my phone from new anyway.
My car is a Land Rover,

Yes, my point was made in full knowledge of how modern car radios work, but it remains perfectly legal to fiddle with an old car radio in an old car which diverts attention from the road in a much more significant way than picking up a mobile phone that has just made a funny noise. I'm not suggesting anything should change, it's just a small irony of the way the law works in this area.

 

[MotCO]

Yes, my point was made in full knowledge of how modern car radios work, but it remains perfectly legal to fiddle with an old car radio in an old car which diverts attention from the road in a much more significant way than picking up a mobile phone that has just made a funny noise. I'm not suggesting anything should change, it's just a small irony of the way the law works in this area.

Also presumably you are allowed to operate the in-built touch screens which control heating etc which takes more than a few seconds, but you cannot use a non-handsfree mobile, which may only take a second or two.

 

[jon0844]

I agree, but - rhetorical question - how many fools are out there driving currently?
The official advice (eg https://www.gov.uk/alerts) is to avoid touching your phone but instead turn on your car radio.

That's just a bit bonkers, although it's consistent with the law as it stands, they're saying that picking up your phone is distracting whereas turning on your car radio isn't.
But it's where we are. You and I wouldn't have used our phones, I'm sure.

The message was read out using text-to-speech, and I assume if I had my phone connected in the car with Android Auto or Bluetooth it may even have read it through the car speakers. Certainly no need to touch anything!

 

[alxndr]

You can retrieve the message from the phone. Also, try using the volume key to mute next time rather than pressing OK. I hope they take this into account for any future tests/activations, as well as making sure someone proof reads the text for Welsh users!

It wasn’t a conscious action, it was pure autopilot. I registered that it wasn’t my partner calling me, and so it followed that I wasn’t interested and it should go away.

 

[jon0844]

It is something they need to factor in to future tests. Not everyone knows you can read previous messages, so could lose the message accidentally - which isn't much good in a real emergency.

 

[najaB]

It is something they need to factor in to future tests. Not everyone knows you can read previous messages, so could lose the message accidentally - which isn't much good in a real emergency.

While that is true, it's not a deal-breaker. That is more on the phone vendors though since they are responsible for the UX, rather than the government.