Get ready for a loud alert on your phone today as the UK issues a rare emergency warning for severe weather conditions
Lisburn: Today, your phone might go off with a loud alert. This is part of a new emergency alert system that the UK has rolled out. It’s designed to warn you about serious situations, like extreme weather.
When the alert hits, your phone will vibrate and make a loud siren sound for about ten seconds, even if it’s on silent. You’ll see a notification on your home screen that you need to acknowledge before you can use your phone normally.
These alerts can include important info like phone numbers or links to websites for more details. The reason for today’s alert is a rare red weather warning from the Met Office, which is predicting very dangerous conditions across Northern Ireland.
This is the first time since 2011 that such a warning has been issued. The forecasters are saying there’s a real danger to life, so everyone is being urged to prepare for the storm.
Schools, businesses, and airports might shut down as the weather gets rough. The emergency alert system was first tested in 2023, and it’s meant to be used sparingly, only when there’s an immediate risk to life.
In other countries, like the US and Japan, similar systems have been credited with saving lives during severe weather. Since its launch, the UK has used the alert system a few times, including warnings for wildfires and flooding.
If you don’t want to receive these alerts, you can turn them off in your phone settings. Just search for “emergency alerts” and disable the severe and extreme alerts. But remember, if your phone is off or in airplane mode, you won’t get any alerts.
