Friday’s emergency alert speaks volumes about Westminster and Wales
Stephen Price
In a very modern take on the infamous ‘where were you when’ questions usually put forward for events like the death of a public figure, many of us have a story to tell about the evening of Friday 14 August 2026 when *that* emergency alert sounded from our phones.
Instagram, Facebook and TikTok were quick off the mark with some pretty funny memes, and like the eclipse only a few days prior, we were all united for a while. Only this time with a little unexpected head scratching, and for some, a healthy dose of rage.
One of the funniest from Wales shows a group of men taking advantage of the head start for Welsh speakers, while others had to fathom what the hell was going on, which I’ll get to in a moment.
In my case, I happened to be driving my nephew, too aware of what might happen if I read my phone as it screeched from the passenger seat beside me.
I panicked and tuned out pretty much all else around me and headed to the safest place possible to park up and to shut my phone up.
With not-so-bad Welsh language skills, I was fine, but then came the Whatsapps and text messages from friends asking me to translate, and my own message to the work group chat with a screengrab and the simple question, “What the?”
Others shared how their elderly relatives were quite literally alarmed to the point of sheer terror, while another reported being on a motorbike with the bluetooth headset taking over, again, absolutely terrified.
Unlike in England’s less-nuanced version of events, we in Wales were united with more questions than answers. And anyone in a Facebook group with slow admins is still being asked ‘did anyone else get that Welsh alert on their phone? What does it say?’ to this day.
Over and out
As things began to fall into place on the evening, and for those who got the English message roughly five minutes later, we all learned more about the emergency alert, warning us not to light anything that could spark a fire.
Not, as many assumed, that we were in some kind of imminent danger.
And contrary to popular belief – and Plaid/Senedd bashing online which began before the English message arrived and also continues to this moment – the UK Government sent the alert on Friday evening, which began appearing on mobile devices around 7pm (18.57 in my case).
The English followed for me at 19.01. And then, because I have an iPhone with a poor battery following the latest update(!), mine decided to give me the alert again twice later that evening after switching itself off.
Enraged? Moi?
Louise Haigh, the First Secretary of State, said Friday’s message was “the most extensive use of the UK’s emergency alert system in response to an active incident”.
It warned people not to use barbecues, campfires, and fireworks, and recipients were also urged to report fires immediately to 999.
Cabinet Office minister Louise Haigh said: “In response to the continued risk proposed by wildfires, the Government has taken the decision to issue an emergency alert to England and Wales.
“This is the most extensive use of the UK’s emergency alert system in response to an active incident, and reflects the seriousness with which the Government is acting to safeguard people and property.
“During this period of extreme heat, we are asking people to take simple steps to limit the risk of further fires.
“By following the safety guidance, everyone can play their part in protecting local communities and supporting our frontline services who are working around the clock to keep people safe.”
“The Government will continue to provide every assistance to communities being impacted by these fires, including the deployment of 100 additional military personnel in major incident areas.”
Angela Rayner, the Communities Secretary, said: “As well as supporting firefighters on the ground now, my department will hold a summit bringing together fire chiefs, the National Fire Chiefs’ Council, the Fire Brigades Union and other key organisations to look at our future response.
“To the residents affected, particularly those who lost their homes and their life’s possessions to fire – we will work with the mayor and local leaders to make sure you are supported.”
Andy
Firstly, where was the response in Wales when fires broke out/were deliberately started by small gangs of teenage boys over three weeks ago?
For weeks, residents of Welsh towns have had windows closed on some of the hottest days of the year. We’ve watched as flames and smoke engulfed our woodlands, moorlands and houses.
And even if we haven’t been affected this time around, like those at risk of floods before us, we now all sit here wondering if, one day, it could take our communities too.
Isn’t living on a mountainside the dream? Who saw this coming?
On 25 July, I visited friends down-wind from the fire on Varteg, and the scenes miles away were apocalyptic. The sun glowing red, dry grass thick with smoke, air that choked.
A friend in Varteg shared her worry, for herself, her rescue horses, her beautiful beloved land and the insect, wildlife and plantlife that now lies there blackened.
On Friday evening itself I was in Nantyglo, as Brynmawr, Blaina and Abertillery were blanketed in thick eye-wateringly heavy smoke.
From north to south, we’ve been dealing this for close to a month. But it’s Wales, who cares!
And when it happens in England? It’s over to Prince William and the UK Gov with public statements, emergency alerts, photo opps, headline news.
Where were the papers, the Royal family and the UK Gov when it was happening here?
And where the hell have Plaid been besides on their socials? I worked in PR before this, I know how it works.
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It’s time to get out to the communities and burning mountainsides and recall the Senedd now.
And while we’re at it, call off the summer holidays too – the idle hands of teenage boys with nothing better to do and no regard for the communities, landscapes and the other beings we share the world with are too free to make trouble as it stands.
It’s time to demand punishment to fit the crimes of senseless, life-endangering wildfires – and to take wildlife crime and environmental crime as seriously as any other.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, and the response of our Governments has been pathetic to date.
On Cymraeg
Naturally, the usual offending groups on Facebook from Wales (not it seems always run by people from Wales) who shan’t be named, had something to say.
Trust Andrew RT Davies to get straight to X (where else?) to bash out: “The law must be changed to ensure emergency alerts and other important announcements are always made in English first. Over 80% of people in Wales don’t speak Welsh. Common sense must prevail.”
Commenters all shared similar takes, which read: “They sent the first one in Welsh, that most of us can’t understand. I thought my phone had been hacked. Then five minutes later it’s resent in English. If it had been the four minute warning of a nuclear attack, then we’d all be dead before we received a message we could read!”
And all used the situation to attack Plaid (who didn’t send it) and the Welsh language (which also didn’t send it).
Calls were quick to get Plaid (lol) to send it in English first in future (they don’t have the login, huns, but we’ll pass the message on) and to pull out all the tired old clichés about second class citizenship for the poor English monoglots of Wales who have it so tough with everyone around them speaking their language, every item in every shop, every one of the hundreds upon hundreds of channels besides one (one!) on television, every movie in every cinema, every book on every shelf… I could go on.
A total balls-up, of course, and it was an extra level of panic for English speakers and it wasn’t fair – but take that complaint to Andy and Co please.
And while complaining, please ask, ‘where were you three weeks ago when this was affecting Wales, Welsh houses, Welsh landscapes? Why did it take impacts in England for the Cobra meeting to be called? Did it matter less here?’
The language issue is, in the grand scheme, a much smaller one to the insult of seeing military action, Royal involvement and a widescale government response only when things really started to get serious in England, not Wales.
There’s much to be made of this alert, and it speaks volumes about Westminster’s relationship with Wales.
It’s also the last alert that will ever sound from my phone again.
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Excellent article. I agree with your main point about the lack of response or urgency until the fires were seen to be posing a threat in England, and specifically to those in London and with country estates in the South-East. We in Wales should not have to wait until this happens, there should be greater devolution of powers and finance to the Welsh government to allow them to respond quickly when needed. It is very noticeable that the usual English Nationalists use this as an opportunity to attack Welsh culture and the very limited Government we have, rather than admitting… Read more »
What a lot to digest! Firstly, admittedly, the majority of us speak English as a first language but we do live in Cymru and Welsh is our language. If there was an imminent nuclear attack I doubt sending an English alert first would save me any more than sending the Welsh version first!! We all know that it’s not until England is affected that a national response to a threat will happen. If coal slips affected London they’d have been secured decades ago. For the British government Cymru only comes up seriously if resources are needed – currently it’s transfering… Read more »
If only as you say ” it will be the last…..”You will still receive the message if your volume is off.Prisoners in Prisons with the illegal possesion of phones still received the warning when they thought that their phones were on silent. whoops!!!!!
You can turn the notifications off quite easily in your phone settings so unless the government alter that as an option I’m sticking to my word here. Would love to have been a fly on the wall in a few prisons on Friday though haha – hilarious! 😀
Perhaps the Government should ,as a matter of public concern,say exactly how everyone’s phones were enabled to receive the warning regardless of their status?
Any other country in the world, the language wouldn’t be mentioned. That particular country would just send the message, in their respective language. If people migrate to a country and are too lazy, selfish and disrespectful to learn the native language, then they should expect to miss out on information. Those people have made a grown up adult decision to choose ignorance, and it comes with consequences. They need to stop with the victim card and realise its them not bothering to learn a language that is the issue, not a particular country using its own language in its day… Read more »
Ignorance these days is a choice. Even if the alert was sent out first in Cymraeg, anyone with an ounce of nouse would have used Google translate to translate it into a language they did understand. But of course, this would deny them an opportunity to have a go at those who do speak Cymraeg, an language that is genuinely under threat and seems likely to disappear as a living, community language within the next half century,(and maybe by 2050, thus doing the Welsh Government the favour of not having to do anything, which the ‘million Welsh speakers by 2050’… Read more »
Youve just put flashing lights and a siren on the elephant in the room.
Learning the language of whichever country you end up in is a very basic level of respect and politeness.
Sadly lacking in some.
And how typical of Brit Nationalists like the Tories and Reform to immediately jump on the language as some sort of negative. As tiresome as it is predictable.
Horse had bolted well before this arrived. Glad that it did though, if late. but houses went up in Newport and not a blip from No10. No house going up is a goal, no family should have to suffer that.
main concern is people with secret safe phones.
Until we get serious rain it’ll only get more relevant as each day passes. Those that still have a bonfire or bbq that gets out of control and burns down an estate no longer have the defence that they didn’t know.
It’s been weeks with a tinderbox. This last week is not the only event that No10 should have been paying attention and the Senedd for that matter. These warnings are late.
UK will need to rethink and have laws in place for dry events that ban a lot of hot stuff.
Although it was a surprise to receive the wildfire alert on my phone, I wasn’t reduced to a blubbering wreck because the message arrived first in Cymraeg rather than English. After all, the first alert (Welsh): Issued around 6:57 PM to 7:00 PM. Second Alert (English): Issued shortly after, around 7:02 PM. So around two minutes apart. And both alerts were sent again. If Welsh & English have equal status in Wales, does it matter which order it came? And are unionists implying that our language, like Wales itself, should be treated as second class? It certainly seems that way.… Read more »