Public emergency alerts to be sent to all UK smartphones on 23rd April

forgotmyname

facade said:

They spent millions on those leaflets, and we can't even remember the sound advice that would have saved us

Here it is, I was right, you built a bomb shelter by taking the doors off their hinges, well you had to really, as only Our Masters could fit in the radiation hardened underground shelters built to keep Government (of what exactly, following Armageddon?) safe and functioning.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1500124311

Latest advice is, after the flash, get in the corner of the room alongside the window and wait for the following blast wave to blow the window glass inwards past you rather than get shredded by it.

I like The Plan where I sit in a proper bunker for 6 months and then emerge to rule over the survivors.....

You have me stumped, I don't remember any leaflets or adverts on bunker raids and world domination... I must have slept in that day?
Do you have key operated locks or digital panels and where is the spare key/code kept?  

Grey_Critic

It would seem this is a system test - there are ways you can disable the function but personally I would just let it go - jit is a one off - Better to know that it works than moan when it does not.

Le_Kirk

Sarahspangles said:

Despite knowing all about this in advance I expect I’ll still jump out of my skin and evacuate the building and OH will walk across and stare at the microwave in puzzlement.

I think I might evacuate as well.

elsien

facade said:

forgotmyname said:

facade said:

Can't be that important then.

Still, I suppose "Nuclear strike imminent, get the door off its hinges and hide under it!" isn't much good if you are driving a car....

You don't hide under the door with a Nuclear attack, you remove the door to stand SAFELY in the opening it leaves behind. 

Perfectly safe if you do that, I remember reading the leaflets and watching the TV in the late 70's. Maybe houses were
stronger back then?  Although if you were within the detonation zone it maybe safer to hide under the stairs.

They spent millions on those leaflets, and we can't even remember the sound advice that would have saved us

Here it is, I was right, you built a bomb shelter by taking the doors off their hinges, well you had to really, as only Our Masters could fit in the radiation hardened underground shelters built to keep Government (of what exactly, following Armageddon?) safe and functioning.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1500124311

Latest advice is, after the flash, get in the corner of the room alongside the window and wait for the following blast wave to blow the window glass inwards past you rather than get shredded by it.

I like The Plan where I sit in a proper bunker for 6 months and then emerge to rule over the survivors.....

Raymond Briggs. When the wind blows. Far more accurate portrayal.

chrisw

facade said:

forgotmyname said:

facade said:

Can't be that important then.

Still, I suppose "Nuclear strike imminent, get the door off its hinges and hide under it!" isn't much good if you are driving a car....

You don't hide under the door with a Nuclear attack, you remove the door to stand SAFELY in the opening it leaves behind. 

Perfectly safe if you do that, I remember reading the leaflets and watching the TV in the late 70's. Maybe houses were
stronger back then?  Although if you were within the detonation zone it maybe safer to hide under the stairs.

They spent millions on those leaflets, and we can't even remember the sound advice that would have saved us

Here it is, I was right, you built a bomb shelter by taking the doors off their hinges, well you had to really, as only Our Masters could fit in the radiation hardened underground shelters built to keep Government (of what exactly, following Armageddon?) safe and functioning.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1500124311

Latest advice is, after the flash, get in the corner of the room alongside the window and wait for the following blast wave to blow the window glass inwards past you rather than get shredded by it.

I like The Plan where I sit in a proper bunker for 6 months and then emerge to rule over the survivors.....

For anyone who remembers the 80s, a visit to the Hack Green secret nuclear bunker near Nantwich in Cheshire is a great day out. This stuff really was taken seriously.

https://www.hackgreen.co.uk/

facade

elsien said:

facade said:

forgotmyname said:

facade said:

Can't be that important then.

Still, I suppose "Nuclear strike imminent, get the door off its hinges and hide under it!" isn't much good if you are driving a car....

You don't hide under the door with a Nuclear attack, you remove the door to stand SAFELY in the opening it leaves behind. 

Perfectly safe if you do that, I remember reading the leaflets and watching the TV in the late 70's. Maybe houses were
stronger back then?  Although if you were within the detonation zone it maybe safer to hide under the stairs.

They spent millions on those leaflets, and we can't even remember the sound advice that would have saved us

Here it is, I was right, you built a bomb shelter by taking the doors off their hinges, well you had to really, as only Our Masters could fit in the radiation hardened underground shelters built to keep Government (of what exactly, following Armageddon?) safe and functioning.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1500124311

Latest advice is, after the flash, get in the corner of the room alongside the window and wait for the following blast wave to blow the window glass inwards past you rather than get shredded by it.

I like The Plan where I sit in a proper bunker for 6 months and then emerge to rule over the survivors.....

Raymond Briggs. When the wind blows. Far more accurate portrayal.

I've seen it, and that BBC drama "Threads", and "The War Game". Very frightening times the 1980s, they seem to be coming back too...

missile

I hate to think how much of our hard earned has been squandered on this and how many will be employed from now until doomsday on this white elephant. 

facade

I think it is a Good Idea. (unless it does cost a gazillion pounds, you'd think it would only be coppers, but someone has to make a profit...)

Say there was a toxic gas leak, they could alert everyone downwind for 5 miles to stay inside and keep the windows closed.

With how depressing the news is a lot of people don't watch, or listen to live local radio.

In The Olden Days they used to have those vans with a speaker on top that drove past at 30mph whilst mumbling something unintelligible like a disjointed station announcer. I never once knew what crisis they were warning about....

BikingBud

Perhaps an ability to provide early warning for incidents like this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953
https://damfailures.org/case-study/toddbrook-reservoir-dam-england-2019/

outtatune

In Japan these things work, as the country is constantly at risk of wide scale threats to life requiring fast evacuations, such as earthquakes and tsunamis.

But in the UK these things just don't happen, and you know if they did then it would happen when Tracey, the only person in the office who knows the activiation code, is on annual leave, or they'd need a complex chain of approval that couldn't be completed because the minister responsible was in a 'private meeting' with their personal assistant, so by the time the alert is actually sent, the sad beeps wouldn't be able to wake you as your cold lifeless body floated down what was once the high street.

But look on the bright side: some consultancy firm with no experience in this kind of thing but with excellent links to the Conservative party is going to make a lot of money at a very high margin out of this.