In France, every first Wedneday of the month at noon, there is a siren test in every town. This is to check it works, and to allow people to know it. The siren is used to warn people of potential danger (flood, firest fire, chemical explosion, and historically air raids). Of course today media have particularly communicated about it given the current context.
31 comments
Yes, every first Monday of the month at 12:00 the sirens will sound for 86 seconds.
Aditionally, an alert message is sent to all mobile phones every six months.
I think that varies a lot from place to place. In the small town I grew up in there are regular siren tests (once a month as well), but I’ve never noticed any tests in the city I live in now.
I have never heard a warning siren sounded in the UK. I believe that they have one at Broadmoor Secure Hospital, which they sound if a patient has escaped, but other than that I don’t think that it’s a ‘thing’ in the UK.
Most of the air raid / early warning sirens in the UK were decommissioned in the 90s after the Cold War ‘ended’.
The few that remain are at locations like quarries, chemical factories, secure psychiatric hospitals, and military bases that handle nuclear materials.
Once a year, at 12:00 on the ~~5th of~~ 1st Wednesday of May, ~~which is also the day of the liberation after WW2~~.
It’s exactly the same here but today there was exceptionally no test. They said it’s not really appropriate and people could freak out and also there’s enough people from Ukraine now that they don’t need to hear it again.
I think they test those every first Monday of the month at noon. I thought it was more often, because I seem to hear it a lot at work, but I checked and it’s just once a month.
Yes, four times a year at 15:00 on a Monday. The next test is actually on the coming Monday.
We also named the alarm sirens “Hesa Fredrik” (hoarse Frederick). Do any other countries have sillly names for theirs?
Yes, lot of them in every town in whole country. Tests once a month?
Not in the cities but on the countryside there is the fire fighter‘s siren going off once every saturday at noon
Ha no. I actually just had to Google if we even had them. Apparently in 2011 the defence forces did a drill and some air raid sirens went off in Dublin. Also some barracks does a drill every Friday and apparently they go off at some port.
Apart from that no. Perks of living on an island with no earthquakes or enemys I guess.
Don’t know of any and have never heard any. I heard one in Denmark while I was visiting. Was a little nervous until a local told me about it.
Yeah, every first Saturday of the month at 12:00 sharp, but only in select cities I’m pretty sure, because some of my friends never heard them before moving from the countryside to the city.
Norwegian Civil defence conduct testing of air-raid sirens two times a year.
Yes, regularly here in Germany. There’s two types, a three wave alert where it goes loud, quiet, loud, quiet, loud, quiet over a minute, and a constant one minute one.
The first one means that they’re calling the local fire department volunteers for help, normally because of a large traffic accident or fire nearby. The 2nd means chemical spill, attack by foreign power, but – more commonly – a storm is about to hit.
I’ve lived in a small town in Bavaria for 2.5 years now and I would say I have heard the fire department alert about weekly. They massively overuse it imo. For the actual alert one I’ve heard it maybe 3-4 times, all for storms.
I’ve never heard any alarm siren of that kind here in Italy
My city has one because there is an amo/guns/military equipment (or something like that I am actually not sure) factory and I think it’s tested once a month.
Yes, every first saturday of a month at noon.
Although, I sometimes wonder what would happen if it starts playing alert sound instead of all clear sound. I dont think younger gen would react at all, let alone know what to do.
No. We don’t have any general alarm siren (apart from CMTv…lol). Whenever there’s an alarm a sms is sent to all the phones in a specific area, normally by civil protection. In forest fires we receive a sms.
Only in some places, like mountain municipalities (each with its own sheduled tests), and the Autonomous province of Bolzano that tests those each saturday at midday.
The rest of Italy stopped using those.
Every Saturday at 12:00 the sirens sound for around 10-15 seconds (I don’t know the exact number).
Never heard one in Berlin in 20 years of living here
Yes, here in Zagreb, Croatia every first saturday of the month.
Interesting question btw
Hmm, that reminds me that I haven’t (or don’t remember) heard it at all the last couple of years. I think it is (or was) the first thursday of each month some time before noon
Never heard an alarm siren in Belgium, but I guess some town must have it. We got a text message during the flood in July, but it was in the wrong language and hours late. We got it in the three languages, but it was so late and disparate that if we were concerned, it wouldn’t have helped shit.
Wow. That really often. In Poland we usually have them tested during Warsaw Uprising commemoration
Yes on the first Wednesday of every month but lately they’ve been suspended due to… everything really so to not cause more stress.
Yes every year, on the first Wednesday in February, all sirens across Switzerland are tested at the same time.
There is two systems with different tone, the first is for general alert and the second is the water flooding alert. This last one is only used in area close to dams.
Edit: There is also an official alert app for smartphone that are tested at the same time.
It seems surprisingly common for you guys, in Spain hearing one of this would become the people crazy expecting a serious military problem.
We have fire drills on Schools/H.schools/Uni each 2 years I think but thats all.
We have it exactly the same in Czechia every first wednesday each month at noon, but this weeks was canceled.
Well, nowadays it’s not a test…but before the current Russian invasion we had a regular test at least once a year