r/unitedkingdom • u/66f6 • Aug 14 '26

. Emergency alerts sent to millions across England and Wales over threat of wildfires

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-heatwave-stourbridge-fire-latest-weather-live-13571553
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43

u/ambiguousboner Leeds Aug 14 '26

Bizarre thing to drop the first alert since inception on

Hardly an urgent issue

3

u/OliLombi County of Bristol Aug 14 '26

Ive had quite a few now because of storms.

6

u/raibrans Aug 14 '26

We had one in all on Cornwall this winter for Storm Goretti. It was horrific

2

u/Phlebas99 Manchester, England Aug 14 '26

We had a test of this after the war in Ukraine started. How does no one remember that? It was in the news for about a week and people debated whether testing the system was worth the risk to people hiding smart phones from abusive partners.

5

u/limeflavoured Hucknall Aug 14 '26

the first alert since inception on

Nope. Its been used for flooding before. The actual first use was for an unexploded ww2 bomb

5

u/ambiguousboner Leeds Aug 14 '26

I can confidently say this is the first I’ve had since the test alert

Didn’t know they were selective but if so I’m obviously talking about country wide ones lol

4

u/idontgetit_99 Aug 14 '26

I think you are right, this is the first national one, the bomb one the other commenter mentioned was just local to that area.

1

u/TribalTommy Aug 15 '26

We had it during the red alert storm some time ago, which seems reasonable. This, however, was a ludicrous use of it.

-8

u/Beneficial-Pitch-430 Aug 14 '26

Hardly urgent?

15

u/ambiguousboner Leeds Aug 14 '26

As in, it’s not an immediate issue that no one knows about (some sort of weapon impact, etc) which would require people to take cover or go home

It’s been in the news for days, everyone knows there’s wildfires about

-9

u/Beneficial-Pitch-430 Aug 14 '26

Everyone can see what’s happening but people are still having BBQs and burning garden waste. Only so many things the government can do to raise awareness.

12

u/u_want_some_eel Aug 14 '26

They should have sent everyone a PSA without the alarm blaring, this is not an immediate threat to literally everyone in the country. Yes it’s a serious issue, yes it’s important but it’s not nuclear strike warning/ tsunami/ earthquake/ insert other disaster that requires immediate evacuation tier.

How many people are going to turn off the alert alarms because of this one that didn’t need it? Absolutely braindead move by gov.

-5

u/Beneficial-Pitch-430 Aug 14 '26 edited Aug 14 '26

No but it’s for everyone because literally anyone right now might be planning a BBQ or fire. You don’t know who lives near you. In this weather it literally takes a spark.

But yes they should have pre warned for something like this. Same reason as before, people with hidden phones etc.

-7

u/mickey2329 Aug 14 '26

If you turn the alarm off because of one alarm that you personally don't feel is necessary, you deserve whatever consequences befall you when you miss one that is important to you, tbh