Why and when will 2,000 emergency sirens ring across France today?
The sirens will sound at different times depending on where you are in France
The emergency sirens are located on the roofs of mairies or tall buildings
Petr Kovalenkov / Shutterstock
Emergency sirens sound around noon on the first Wednesday of every month across France.
During the summer, these sirens do not always sound, depending on the town but it will be a return to normality today (Wednesday October 2).
The sirens are rung to make sure that they are working correctly in case they are needed in an emergency.
They will sound for a minute and 41 seconds. In a real emergency, they will sound three times for a minute and 41 seconds each time.
When and where will they ring?
The sirens do not sound at the same time in France.
In the north, the west and the centre of the country, they will blare at 11:45. In the Grand-Est, Bourgogne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and the Var, it will be 12:00. For Corsica, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (excluding the Var), they will ring at 12:15.
The emergency sirens are dotted across the country in the more populated areas, therefore the zones most at risk in the case of an emergency.
There are currently around 2,100 sirens, but there are plans to add more in zones that are more at risk of floods, tsunamis or nuclear accidents.
They are generally set up on the roofs of mairies or tall buildings.
What are they for?
The sirens are a part of the Système d’alerte et d’informations aux populations (Public warning and information system).
If you hear a siren sounding three times, this is a warning of immediate danger (flooding, earthquakes, chemical accidents, etc.) and you must take shelter. The sirens are not sounded for terrorist attacks.
Read more: French Mediterranean coast should expect a tsunami every thirty years
To complement the sirens, more information will be disseminated through mobile phones, radio and the TV, to give you more precise instructions and warnings. This is in the case of a real emergency, not for the monthly tests.
Generally speaking, the advice to follow when hearing the emergency sirens is as follows:
Go to a building for shelter and to find out the advice. Authorities will tell you to either protect yourself in a building or evacuate (do not evacuate unless you are instructed to)
Listen to information on Radio France, France Bleu and France Télévisions, the official channels
Stay in a safe space and do not collect children from school
Do not stay in a vehicle, near windows or go in a lift
Minimise using your phone to avoid overflooding the network
Read more: Why emergency alerts are being sent to mobile phones in Paris
