UK issues Severe emergency alert over national wildfire risk
Dear UK government: emergency alerts are for things that are going to kill people imminently unless they take immediate action. They are not for warning against barbecues. You have an entire state and commercial media apparatus with which to disperse the second, non-emergency sort of message.
Abigail Nussbaum23Signed, someone who spent weeks getting these sorts of alerts when missiles were fired at my home, and did not appreciate the traumatic flashback.
NaomiW2It got everyone talking about it though didn't it? Most people know not to use disposable BBQs on dry moorland. Now noone has the excuse to plead ignorance
Catherine Sharp2I got it in Welsh first & though I understood enough to know it was about fire, I either had to Google Translate it or wait 5 mins to get the English version. Which meant I was both very glad it wasn't imminent danger and really annoyed that if it had been, I wouldn't have known at the first alert.
ajant.bsky.social1So irresponsible to use this facility that way. Really angry and worried for the people who won’t cope with the alarm so well when real threats of military strike exist.
Macca1This is exactly the correct use of the alert.
This alert popped up just as I was writing this post. Everything we can do to minimise climate change and *also* to prepare for the environment of the future is worth it. We don't have to hide, or avoid, or wait for others to act - it's much better for us and the future to change things now.
Helen Czerski45I have absolutely no time for the argument that "we are tiny - our contribution/difference is only a tiny fraction of the total, so we might as well do nothing". That's not how this works. Someone goes first, and others follow. This is about leadership, and good leaders will bring others with them.
jongreenme.bsky.social3I was pretty annoyed that there was no mention of and no advice for smokers and smoking. I think it would cost nothing to force all smokers to carry a fireproof tin in this emergency, and avoiding high risk areas altogether - if I smoked, I absolutely wouldn’t complain about doing the right thing
Paul Adamson2To be honest, it popped up just as I was lighting a citronella candle in the garden. The lit match clearly triggered some satellite surveillance system…at least for a second I wondered….
CoExist... plz...1I had no idea that disposable barbecues were a thing, prior to a couple days ago when I saw another post with them mentioned as possible fire hazards - the very idea is perplexing, "just throw away" when done 😮 possible???
⚠️ Severe Alert Issued by the UK Government Chip butties absolutely count as vegetables
Tom McGrath4Jerry they even do chip butty bao here
Bradstreet Farmer2Too soon I think 🤣
CJ Bill1Does this count as cultural appropriation?
moominpapa.bsky.social1Absolutely disgusting. Real Englishfolk get their vegetables from bubble and squeak.
Bensmom331I misread that as chip buddies and now I want a potato friend.
AP1It’s a chip BARM Jerry.
Fucking hell, it did again. I don’t want to be shocked out of my stupor and told not to have a barbecue. This is my Putin has launched a first strike alert.
Adrian Tchaikovsky17Well Christ you don’t want to be halfway through a barbecue when the birds are in the air.
Dave8Collie stress levels are at 100% #dogsofbluesky
Another Disappointing Day in The Obituaries5But as a friend just pointed out: "People are c***s. They need to be told."
T-Rexit4It’s ok social media is “on fire” with piss take messages…so the four minutes will pass by quickly 😉☢️💣
MrsVB Shadow Profanity Secretary3We were in our garden, literally heard all our neighbours' phones go off as well
DJ McCann3I'm pretty sure a Putin first-strike at this point would have to involve fire arrows so...
I know people were mocking the emergency alert but like 19 houses burned down within a few hours because of how dry the land is. I think that’s a good time to tell the entire country to be careful and stop being pricks.
b13and given how many people go ‘oh i don’t watch the news anymore’ makes it seem they wouldn’t be as aware as the rest of us
Alex3three hours after the alert I went to shut the back door and somebody was having a fucking bonfire on the allotments. I don't even know where to begin with these people
Sammy 🏳️🌈1There was a wildfire where i live, ive never seen that in the many years ive been here it was super freaky to me
Scott1And I saw there's been a wildfire this morning along a railway line in west London. If you live there, you probably just wouldn't think it's a risk. I know I wouldn't.
There's something increasingly Quatermass / RTD about recieving severe alert messages from the government while walking around the scorched grasses of Avebury.
Hannah Piekarz2Yes, was walking past a park at the time, and watching everyone stop and check their phones simultaneously was eerie to see. Reminiscent of something I'd seen on many a sci-fi episode.
Sara F 💚💙 🖤🩶🤍💜1No wearing polyester near flammable material
karentheminiac.bsky.social1I didn't get it on my own phone but my work brick went mental...
Jonathan Calder1I recently discovered that I lived in Winnerden Flats as a small boy.
vickiethetrainiac.bsky.social1The sad thing is people actually need telling not to light bbq's/ throw fag butts etc. onto tinder-dry grass.. Have general intelligence levels and common sense sunk this far??
Graeme Robertson1I didn't get this at all. And there have been forest fires in Fife recently if not actually near me.
So the government says it’s ok to drill more in the North Sea for natural gas’s and the like, it’s ok to build more days centre’s and give over more water for them while in a drought, not built any new reservoirs in like 26 years but but it’s ok we are telling people don’t play with matches.
Des Walsh13Thousands of people have died in the uk due to the heat it was already close to 2 thousand with the past two heatwaves this one will have added to it. The heat is deadly but it’s ok we will say don’t play with matches when we let companies fuck the planet cos it’s the future and can’t stop that.
Des Walsh8Something tells me people will be be petty and now do shit with fire due to this warning cos have you seen what people are like when you say don’t do something on a scale like that. Maybe stop shutting down fire stations while yea at it.
james5has absolutely RUINED my weekend plans of running through the yorkshire moors while juggling lit matches and spraying petrol everywhere
𝐋𝐮𝐜 𝐈𝐞𝐧𝐧3Regulation for thee but not for mee
Surely a severe alert would be “there’s a fire near you, you might need to evacuate”, not “be a bit careful about burning stuff”
Matt Round27Went off when we were in the car so the alarm sound blared through the speakers like fucking WW3 had started
Pzinget11So yeah. Ours came through in Welsh five minutes before the English... I have a few Welsh words and tân is one of them. Bit of a panic because I kind of assumed it would mean a fire near us.
HappyToast7Yeah, I looked out the window before I’d finished reading the first line
Paul Clarke6Something must be done. This is something. etc etc
Kath M Cymru4I think there should be 2 possible options for the system... A loud 'take action now' warning (enemy attacks, storms etc) Plus, a 'general notification' for important communication like this.
🌈Dani "never gonna give you up" Garibaldi3Every time I hear that noise I think the Russians are coming or something. And I got it twice coz the first time it came through in Welsh, which I don't speak :P I had to wait another ten minutes to find out if a volcano had erupted in the tesco car park down the road or something. And just for that
Neon Genesis Ewangelion85I'm actually a bit furious about this, this is a BAD USE OF IT
Jim Vark 🌌3So like: this is actually really bad from a human factors perspective, alarms should be designed to result in the correct action being carried out promptly without being dismissed as spurious or non-urgent. This system fails badly if this is working as intended.
