The U.K. government is warning smartphone users in the country that on April 23rd at 3 pm, their phones will blast an alarm and vibrate as part of a test.
If you happen to be in the U.K. tomorrow, April 23rd, regardless of whether you live there or are just visiting, your smartphone is going to emit a loud noise that might surprise you. Per the Daily Mail, the alarm is a countrywide smartphone alert that is part of the U.K. government’s emergency alarm system. Be prepared because otherwise, the loud alarm could cause smartphone owners or people in the general vicinity of a smartphone to get scared and maybe even a bit panicked.
But the test is being done to make sure that in case of a serious U.K.-wide threat such as a terrorist attack, natural disasters (such as destructive weather, floods, and fires), or when children go missing, people in the country can be alerted. In the U.S., similar nationwide tests have been done. The last time we wrote about a U.S.-based test was in September of 2018 when a „Presidential Alert“ was disseminated throughout the country via smartphones. The test was conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the FCC and tested the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA).
So those in the U.K. should brace themselves to hear a 10-second alarm from their smartphone accompanied by a vibration at 3 PM British Summer Time (how delightfully British that sounds).
