Tea time alarm trend demonstrates ‘quintessential' British sense of humour
A viral trend showing people dropping everything to make a cup of tea prompted by a blaring alarm has been described as 'quintessential' British humour, but has left Americans confused.
The trend began as a prank to play on people in the US, suggesting there was a daily siren known as the 'tea time alarm', reminding the British public to make a brew, and poking fun at the stereotype that Britons all love the hot beverage.
Social media users have found creative ways to explain the tea alarm, with the convincing videos causing some Americans to believe the alarm is real.
The trend has been spurred on by the official TikTok accounts of the UK Government, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (SYFRS), Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) and the RNLI, adding to people's confusion
The UK Government TikTok account shared a video showing a prohibited 'tea alarm button', described as 'a very advanced piece of kit' and joked users can 'find out about the tea alarm' on the gov.uk website, which has been viewed more than 780,000 times.
Firefighters at SYFRS unboxed a tea alarm which they joked wirelessly connects to the 'tea alarm tower amplifying the national alarm giving you those vital extra seconds' to make a cup of tea, while CFRS claimed it is 'exempt from the tea alarm'.
Meanwhile, the RNLI shared a video of a rescue team returning to shore and wrote: 'In 201 years of the RNLI we've never missed a tea alarm'.
Others have shared extreme ways they have taken time of out of their day to drink tea – including a duo who rushed to make the hot beverage before ziplining over the Eden Project in Cornwall.
The video was posted on the Hangloose Adventure TikTok account earning more than 1.3 millions views and more than 222,000 likes on the short-form video app.
It shows Karis Lawer, 25, pouring tea from a thermal flask into ceramic mugs before pushing her colleague, Martin Kelly, 24, down the zipline as he held the drink, after the alarm went off during a test flight.
Mr Kelly, operations manager at Hangloose adventure, a park specialising in outdoor adrenaline activities, joked the tea time alarm is ingrained in the British public's psyche.
'It's normal for every British person to have at least three cups a day, so I think the siren goes off without us noticing half the time,' he told the PA news agency.
Despite being aimed at Americans, Ms Lawer, duty manager at Hangloose Adventure, said the trend appeared to have mostly entertained social media users on the other side of the Atlantic.
'Most of our (TikTok) views have come from the UK, so it's basically just English people laughing at ourselves and how funny we are,' she said.
'It's so quintessential, us just trying to poke fun at Americans really but also finding ourselves really funny.
'Tea is already something we have daily, so to make a video pretending that there's an alarm that goes off in order for us to have tea is such an easy thing to do, it's so effective.'
The trend has sparked TikTok users to create fake accounts called the TVLA or TeaVLA – a pun on the DVLA or Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency – warning Britons to obey the tea time alarm or face a fine.
'Be careful of the fines. We don't want anyone to incur a tea fine,' Ms Lawer joked. 'It just adds to the humour.'
Mr Kelly added: 'It makes it that more realistic and more believable.'
The duo hope their ziplining video ensures no one misses the tea alarm and advised: 'Don't be afraid to drink tea anywhere.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pedro Almodóvar's Next Movie ‘Bitter Christmas' Set for Spanish Theaters and Streamer Movistar Plus+
Pedro Almodóvar has found his next project. The auteur is now at work on 'Bitter Christmas' for Spanish streaming platform Movistar Plus+. Almodóvar also collaborated with the platform on his English-language feature debut, 'The Room Next Door.' 'Bitter Christmas,' or 'Amarga Navidad,' stars a slew of Almodóvar newcomers and staples, including Bárbara Lennie ('Petra'), Leonardo Sbaraglia ('Pain and Glory'), Aitana Sánchez-Gijón ('Parallel Mothers'), Victoria Luengo ('The Room Next Door'), Patrick Criado ('Riot Police'), Milena Smit ('Parallel Mothers'), and Quim Gutiérrez ('Darkbluealmostblack'). The film will be released in Spanish theaters in 2026, with Warner Bros. Pictures Spain distributing. It will then debut exclusively on the Movistar Plus+ platform. More from IndieWire Studio Ghibli at 40: Can an Ethical Animation Studio Still Exist, or Even Survive? 'Eddington' Trailer: Ari Aster's Western of Pandemic Paranoia Hits Theaters After Dividing Cannes IndieWire has reached out to Almodóvar's representatives for details about a possible U.S. release, though it can be assumed Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in North America, as it has all of Almodóvar's recent outings. We're told that festival play and a U.S. release will take place before the Movistar+ premiere. 'Bitter Christmas' centers on advertising director Elsa, now mourning the loss of her mother over a December holiday weekend. The official synopsis, as shared by Variety, reads: 'She throws herself into work as a form of escape, not realizing she's denying herself the time to grieve. Her relentless pace is interrupted when a panic attack forces her to take a break. Her partner, Bonifacio, becomes her anchor in this moment of crisis. Elsa decides to travel to the island of Lanzarote with her friend Patricia, who is also looking to get away from Madrid, while Bonifacio stays behind in the city. The story of these three characters, and several others, runs parallel to that of screenwriter and film director Raúl Durán, intertwining fiction and reality. 'Bitter Christmas' explores how life and fiction are inseparably linked, sometimes painfully so.' The project is currently filming in Madrid and Lanzarote. Almodóvar and his brother, Agustín Almodóvar, produce through their El Deseo banner in collaboration with Movistar Plus+. Almodóvar won the 2024 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for 'The Room Next Door,' distributed stateside by Sony Pictures Classics. 'I was very concerned about the English,' Almodóvar told IndieWire about his first film in English. 'We wanted an English that should sound American. My films have never been naturalistic. I have never aspired to the mumbling or babbling or pausing or some of those things that happen in regular language. I like my language to be concentrated and precise. In Spanish, it has worked well.' Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See
Newsweek
12 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Puppy Brothers Reunited, Moment They Recognize Each Other Caught on Camera
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The heartwarming moment a puppy reunites with his sibling has melted hearts online. In a now-viral TikTok video that has more than 250,000 views, Codi, a 4-month-old Coton de Tulear, got a very special visitor: his brother, whom he last saw at the pet store. Adopted from a pet store in Singapore when he was 3 months old, Codi hadn't seen his littermate since. But then a conversation with the store changed everything. "The pet shop helped us to get the contact of the brother's owner, and we contacted them to arrange a meetup," owner Tiffany, who didn't give a surname, told Newsweek. "I think because they have only been separated for a while Codi has been quite receptive and still able to recognize the brother." Pictures of the two puppies being reunited for the first time. Pictures of the two puppies being reunited for the first time. @ While dogs won't always recognize their littermates, those who remain together or regularly see each other during the first 12-16 weeks of their lives are much more likely to recognize each other later on. A 1994 study that conducted scent-based tests on puppies found that by the age of 2, dogs could only recognize a sibling they lived with—not any of their other siblings. In the TikTok video Tiffany shared, the moment the two dogs met again involved some sniffs, playful roughhousing and plenty of tail wags. As the moment gained more attention online, viewers couldn't get enough of the adorable puppies. One TikTok user wrote, "Lady I only see two clouds where are the dogs you promised." Another added, "The marshmallows are marshmallowing." Others said they hoped this wouldn't be the last time the pair met. "I hope they get more playdates like this," one said, while a commenter added, "Let them have playdate more often please." Many were enamored with the dogs' breed, which originates from Madagascar. "Stunning dogs and just full of love," a user wrote. Another commented, "Sweetest thing I [have] ever seen." Tiffany was delighted by the response: "There were comments like why didn't I get both of them together, or that I was heartless to separate them," she said. "But there were also kind souls who gave ideas on how to reconnect with the sibling, which was encouraging." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Newsweek
18 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Golden Retriever 'Accidentally Trained' To Need Kisses Before Eating
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A 6-month-old golden retriever from a small town in South-Western Ontario, Canada, has melted the hearts of over a million TikTok viewers—after his owner recorded and shared online how he waits to be kissed every mealtime. The now-viral TikTok video shared under @ has racked up more than 206,000 likes and over 1 million views since it was posted on June 4. The star of the video? A fluffy, English cream golden retriever named Pino who refuses to eat until he receives a kiss. "My mom usually is the one to feed him in the morning and at night, and she always gives him a kiss on the head," Pino's owner, who would prefer to keep their identity private, told Newsweek. "Somehow, he associated the kiss as his release cue instead of my mom saying 'okay.' "Since we have discovered this, we think it might be the cutest accidental quirk." Viewers on TikTok were able to see Pino sitting obediently in front of his freshly filled food bowl. His eyes flick toward his owner, waiting. From left: Pino's owner gives him a kiss on the head in a viral TikTok video; and Pino sitting on the floor at home. From left: Pino's owner gives him a kiss on the head in a viral TikTok video; and Pino sitting on the floor at home. @ An overlaid text on the video provides more context: "Accidentally trained my dog to need a kiss before he eats." Sure enough, when he received a gentle peck on the head, he eagerly began his meal. "Pino is my family dog," his owner explained. "We like to say he found us. "My family looked for a dog to bring home, and Pino had been sent back to his breeder after being with another owner, she was looking for a home for him, and when we saw a photo of him, we picked him up within a few days when he was 3 months old." That fateful meeting turned into a bond so strong that even the smallest gestures—like a kiss before breakfast—have become part of Pino's love language. And the response to it has been nothing short of overwhelming for the canine's family. "I was so excited to see it made people happy," Pino's owner said. "Pino is the sweetest and funniest dog, and people can feel that through a screen. "It was overwhelming to get such a positive response, we love sharing his sweetness with the world." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
