This Wednesday, January 8, 2025, the warning sirens will sound throughout France.
Between 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m., every first Wednesday of the month, the Population Alert and Information System (SAIP) sounds throughout the territory.
Established after the Second World War, this monthly test includes only one cycle of just one minute and forty-one seconds. One way to check that the alert system is working and monitoring the operating status of the installations.
Don't panic
This Wednesday, January 8, the sirens will exceptionally sound throughout France. So don't be surprised if you hear them ringing.
The monthly test of the sirens of the population alert and information system (SAIP) has simply been postponed from the usual 1st Wednesday of January, a public holiday, to this Wednesday 8th. In the south of France, in Occitanie, in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (except Var) and in Corsica, the sirens sound at 12:15 p.m. while in the north, west and center of France , the sirens have sounded at 11:45 a.m. since 2018.
What if the alert is triggered outside of testing?
The objective of the SAIP is “to alert a population exposed, or likely to be exposed, to the consequences of an imminent or ongoing serious event”according to the Ministry of the Interior. This can be “a civil security disaster, of natural or technological origin”.
If the siren goes off outside of the usual tests, the ministry recommends going to a building in order to protect yourself and find out about the exact nature of the crisis. Depending on the situation, the authorities will give the following actions: “protect yourself in a building or evacuate the dangerous area”.
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