Siren testing - The Sirens in the Alpe Maritimes will exceptionally be heard throughout the region tomorrow Wednesday, January 8th. The sirens sound on the first Wednesday of each month across France (and Monaco notably). However as last Wednesday was a bank holiday they will be heard tomorrow at 12.15pm instead.
Dating back to the Second World War, the 4,500 sirens of the Réseau National d’Alerte are supposed to sound a warning in the event of a major incident such as a cloud of toxic gas or nuclear accident, or another imminent local catastrophe such as a dam break. Official advice from Interior Ministry says that, on hearing the siren, people are supposed to know about likely local dangers and move to avoid being affected. The alarm siren is different from the monthly reminder, which sounds for just one minute at noon on the first Wednesday of every month. In a real alarm, it sounds for three sequences of one minute and 41 seconds in a rising and falling tone with a five-second gap between each sequence. The end of the alert is indicated by a 30-second siren sound.
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