Emergency alert to be sent to every UK mobile phone
There will be a 10-second siren and a warning message
People got the first messages in 2023
The Government is to send an emergency alert to revert mobile phone in the UK, with a message taking over the screen and a loud siren sounding for 10 seconds. The alarm will come from a system that was launched in 2023 to alert people across the country to immediate threats.
According to the Sun, this will be a nationwide test of the system - designed to tell people if they are at risk of everything from extreme weather to disease and war. The message will read: "Severe Alert. This is a test of Emergency Alerts, a new UK government service that will warn you if there's a life-threatening emergency nearby.
"In a real emergency, follow the instructions in the alert to keep yourself and others safe. Visit gov.uk/alerts for more information. This is a test. You do not need to take any action.", reports the Express.
An Emergency Alert from the UK government
During the 2023 test, people reported the alarm being loud' and frightening. The test signal will be sent later this year on a date to be set, and will be tested every two years to make sure it is still working.
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A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "This system is not designed to cause panic, but to ensure people are aware of imminent threats and can act quickly.This test is part of building national resilience and saving lives in future crises."
The system has already been used in real-world situations. Earlier this year four million people got an alert ahead of Storm Eowyn smashing into the UK. Three million were sent a message ahead of Storm Darragh in 2024.
Roger Hargreaves, director of the Cobra emergencies committee unit at the Cabinet Office, told MPs in 2023: 'It is international standard practice to do regular test messages. I think there is a case for doing it every two years, but we haven't got a ministerial decision on that. Every two years is what we would probably advise ministers but we're yet to get a view on that.'
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Having sussed out at Falkirk how to handle the so-called Highland Charge – the shock tactic of advancing, firing shots and then, in a maelstrom of shouts and cries, violently attacking with swords and dirks – the Government forces now had a vital advantage for their next confrontation, Culloden. The Jacobites, meanwhile, limped from the battlefield with little to show for their efforts other than 50 dead and 80 wounded. Their poor command and at times shambolic co-ordination of men had magnified fractures within their hierarchy. Soon there would squabbles, fall outs and Bonnie Prince Charlie would take to his sick bed. It set the scene, says Geoff, for the collapse that lay ahead. 'Prestonpans was a home victory, Culloden was an away victory for the Hanovarians,' he says. Henry Hawley led the Government forces at the Battle of Falkirk Muir (Image: Christian Friedrich Zincke, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) 'Victory and major defeats tend to be what interests people. 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It offered insight not only into the heat of battle, but the excitement the prospect of bloody battle ignited among the general population, which saw thousands of thrill seekers make their way to Falkirk just to watch. After defeat at Culloden Bonnie Prince Charlie went into hiding before escaping to France 'He had come from Edinburgh to watch his friends fighting and writes about using the town's old grammar school as a makeshift hospital, with the teachers' desks used for surgery,' says Geoff. 'What makes it really interesting, is that his letters were written within a week of the battle, whereas most accounts were written by exiles – most of the Jacobite supporters end up in Italy, France and Holland - long after.' Remarkably, the medic was just one of around 3000 spectators who had travelled from around central Scotland just to watch the bloodshed. Their descent on the town, along with 8000 military men on either side, would have had a profound impact on Falkirk's local population of around 2,500 people, who found themselves and their food supplies overwhelmed. 'The carnival atmosphere that was developing in Falkirk was not to everyone's liking,' Geoff adds. 'Food prices continued to rocket as demand from the huge numbers of outsiders rose. 'The optimism of the government army and the host of visitors was not shared by the inhabitants who had just endured almost two weeks of occupation.' Read more: For locals, the day of battle on 17 January 1746 not only brought the chance to wrestle their town back from thousands of battle 'tourists' and Jacobite followers, but also to cash in. The aftermath of the fighting ignited scenes of looting from the dead and wounded and, later, remarkable entrepreneurship as locals sought to recoup some of their losses from the bloody events on their doorsteps. 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Read more by Sandra Dick: The Hanoverian army, meanwhile, had camped on soggy ground to the south-west of the town, and rose to fight only to find their gunpowder damp from the sleet and tents sagging and sodden. But, adds Geoff: 'Everything that went wrong for the Hanoverians at Falkirk would then go wrong for the Jacobites at Culloden.' The Jacobite army deployed Highlanders at the front line and Lowland infantry in support at the second, intent on using their Highland Charge tactics to slaughter their foe. Bonnie Prince Charlie depicted leading his troops to battle at Culloden (Image: Archive) It would see the Government dragoons charge into Jacobite musket fire and then, in the chaos of smoke from their guns and the fearsome cries and yells of the shirtless clans, be met by long daggers and claymores thrust into the bellies of the government horses and their riders. Hawley's troops suffered large losses – not helped when horses churned up the soft ground, leaving rear guns stuck and unable to respond to the Jacobite pressure. But, says Geoff, events at Falkirk gave their commanders better understanding of Jacobite battle methods, so by the time Culloden came around, they knew precisely how best to respond. Back at Falkirk, as the weather worsened, chaos shifted to the town where locals, already fed up at the impact of finding themselves in the centre of a monumental clash, now found their narrow lanes and wynds consumed by street-by-street, hand-to-hand fighting that raged for hours. Within the town walls came high drama: Lord John Drummond, third in command of the Jacobites, rode his horse up the narrow Cow Wynd only to have it blasted from under him. Then, he took a bullet in the arm, and had to be dragged to safety. Government troops captured at Battle of Falkirk Muir were held at Castle of Doune near Stirling Later, a Hanoverian pistol retrieved by one excited Highlander would accidentally go off in his hands, fatally wounding Young Glengarry, commander of the MacDonell clan and leading to yet another rift among the Jacobite forces. It would be 7.30pm before Bonnie Prince Charlie was able to enter the town. Elements of the Battle of Falkirk Muir were almost too outlandish, says Geoff. 'There are things that, if you saw in a film, you'd say 'no way did that happen. But it did.' Such as the tale of Blind Jack, a drummer with the misnamed Yorkshire Blues who was taken prisoner by the Jacobites. Despite his disability, he still managed to foil his captors, break free and make his escape. Geoff Bailey's new book revisits the 1746 Battle of Falkirk Muir (Image: Geoff Bailey) One Jacobite was captured after mistaking Hanoverian lines for his own. Irritated that they were not behaving more aggressively towards the enemy, he demanded to know 'why aren't you chasing the bastards?'. Geoff says the reply was succinct: 'We are the bastards.' 'Falkirk or Paradise! The Battle of Falkirk Muir, 17 January 1746' will be launched at Falkirk Library on July 21. Proceeds from the book will support The Battle of Falkirk Muir (1746) Trust, which aims to swap its virtual museum and battle library for a custom-built museum in Falkirk telling the full story of the forgotten battle and the Jacobite Risings.
