[Slam Dunk Da Fu]

Do major cities in Britain still have working air raid (or emergency) sirens?

We don't hear about them, so most wouldn't know what each tone meant, so I'm guessing they are now just museum pieces?

[Katharsis]

Some are used as flood sirens on the east coast in Lincolnshire.

[Ultrasonic]

I guess that if we were likely to be the victims of regular air raids, they would let us know what the siren sounded like. I doubt major cities have one which is "ready for action" as such.

[dfgh]

Originally Posted by Slam Dunk Da Fu

Do major cities in Britain still have working air raid (or emergency) sirens?

We don't hear about them, so most wouldn't know what each tone meant, so I'm guessing they are now just museum pieces?

I don't know about cities in Britain, but I know that towns and cities in and around tornado alley still use them. Still one of the most frightening man made sounds in existence.

There was a factory near me that used to use one for something up untill about 1995.Never found out what it was used for.

[Slam Dunk Da Fu]

Originally Posted by Ultrasonic

I guess that if we were likely to be the victims of regular air raids, they would let us know what the siren sounded like. I doubt major cities have one which is "ready for action" as such.

Sure, we aint gonna get bombed from the air- but they can be used for other emergencies. I think I read that London still has one- what for, I don't know.

If a war was to break out where the UK was likey to be bombed, how quickly could the government mobilise things like anti aircraft guns etc? (Unlikely, I know......)

[Ja'mie King]

Originally Posted by dfgh

I don't know about cities in Britain, but I know that towns and cities in and around tornado alley still use them. Still one of the most frightening man made sounds in existence.

There was a factory near me that used to use one for something up untill about 1995.Never found out what it was used for.

Yeah there was a factory near my old house that used them, probably around that time too. I think it was to signify lunch break

[Harlotqueen]

Areas liable to flash flooding still have them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESlAhH9pVXs

[Ultrasonic]

Originally Posted by Slam Dunk Da Fu

If a war was to break out where the UK was likey to be bombed, how quickly could the government mobilise things like anti aircraft guns etc? (Unlikely, I know......)

I don't know exactly how quickly, but I would guess it wouldn't be long.

[alan stepney]

There is a siren in a fuel store close to me. At 12 noon every Friday it is tested.
Hear it any other time, and it is the time to run like h***!

As for:
If a war was to break out where the UK was likey to be bombed, how quickly could the government mobilise things ....

Errrum, what things?
We dont have much in the way of defence equipment available these days.

[tghe-retford]

Rampton Hospital have a siren in case one of their patients escape.

Emergency planning in the UK however is woefully below the Emergency Alert System in the US.

[Fizzbin]

Last time I heard one in East London was in the 1980s, before the Thames Barrier opened.
I think they've been removed now.

[backofsofatvfan]

Avonmouth and Portishead have sirens in case of an attack or leak in the docks. They test it every third tues and it is a very strange noise indeed.

[Channel Hopper]

Originally Posted by tghe-retford

Rampton Hospital have a siren in case one of their patients escape.

The first place an escaped nutter would go is up on the roof to operate the siren ?
(actually you have a point )

[†¤AzumiMiyako¤†]

Said this in a similar thread before...

We have one at the end of our road, which I've heard go off once which was quite frightening!

[Corin]

But do you know what to do when you hear the attack sound?

<mms://wms5.westminster-digital.co.UK...rvive-512k.wmv>

[Bucksman]

^^^

funniest thing i've ever seen!

[DirtySexyMonkey]

I remember one near my grandparents place. Or it could've been at their holiday home in the lakes, but it was a bloody annoying thing.

[d'@ve]

Originally Posted by Corin

But do you know what to do when you hear the attack sound?

<mms://wms5.westminster-digital.co.UK...rvive-512k.wmv>

That was a very real part of life back in the 50s and 60s. Sometimes, the thought of it was very scary, I even worked out where were the safest parts of the Country for my parents and me to evacuate to if we had plenty of warning!

In 1962, in the Cuban Missile Crisis, I thought there was a 50/50 chance there would be an actual Nuclear War, the thought of it was terrifying! There were certainly plenty of air raid sirens available (and regularly tested) way back then!

There were two threads about this not so long ago, we still have them where I live for when Harland and Wolff move the cranes

Originally Posted by Corin

But do you know what to do when you hear the attack sound?

<mms://wms5.westminster-digital.co.UK...rvive-512k.wmv>

"If there is no solid cover, lie flat in a ditch or a hole."

HAHA!

[Bigfeet]

Still have them here, I think they sound at change of shift for a major company .

[blueblade]

Originally Posted by Slam Dunk Da Fu

Do major cities in Britain still have working air raid (or emergency) sirens?

We don't hear about them, so most wouldn't know what each tone meant, so I'm guessing they are now just museum pieces?

I'm sure there must be some still in use. In any case, it would be easy enough to replicate the sound by any number of means, if so required.

They are widely used in the US as tornado warnings.

[Blake Connolly]

As seen in the Protect & Survive film above, they were certainly still about in the early 80's due to the real threat of nuclear war.

[alan stepney]

It is interesting to see the different viewpoints on world events.

quote: In 1962, in the Cuban Missile Crisis, I thought there was a 50/50 chance there would be an actual Nuclear War...

and,
quote:they were certainly still about in the early 80's due to the real threat of nuclear war...

I never believed that nuclear war was likely at either time.
As for the USSR being a threat, I went there for a visit in the 60's and never thought that they were a real threat, and a careful look at Kruschevs speach at the UN showed that they were just posturing.

Same events, different opinions.

[Richard_T]

The air raid and attack warning system, and all its infrastrucure was dismantled/sold off or abandoned in the early 1990s the only survivng bits are some flood warning sirens in some coastal areas.
information on how the system used to work can be found here
http://www.ringbell.co.uk/ukwmo/index.htm

Almost all of the nuclear bunkers and any civilian defence systems/control have also either been sold off ( secure document storage)

The four minute warning would have come from a place like Goosnargh in lancashire, which is currently up for sale / has been sold for secure document stoarge.
see here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/l...re/3933227.stm
other places have been abandoned and left to rot, or in a few cases opened up as muesuems.

theres also a website with almost all of the UKs nuclear bunkers, and cold war infrastucture listed, and documented at http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg theres probably a bunker or simalar near you, although if you want to visit, you should ask permision, as most of them are on private land/in private or still government/military ownership, and are packed full of asbestos and other hazzards ( ie no lighting missing floors, and so on)