Seven sirens did not sound during Tuesday’s checks

On Tuesday, November 26, from 10:00 to 10:10, alarm sirens were activated for three minutes throughout the country to check the operation of the national warning system. Of the 158 sirens tested, 151 worked without malfunctions. Six sirens were not tested because they were being relocated or repaired.

In total, 164 sirens have been installed in Latvia.

During the testing of the sirens, a wave signal was sounded for 3 minutes – a 5-second beep followed by a pause and then a repeated 5-second beep and pause.

In Rīga and the Rīga region, all 55 sirens out of 55 worked without interference.

In Kurzeme, 26 out of 29 sirens were tested. 25 sirens worked without malfunctions. The siren in Grobiņa did not operate, while the sirens in Kuldīga, Sabile, and one of the sirens in Liepāja were not tested.

In Zemgale, 22 out of 23 sirens were tested, 21 of them worked without malfunctions, while the alarm siren in Viesīte did not work. One alarm siren in Tukums was not tested.

In Latgale, all 29 alarm sirens were tested and 27 of them worked without malfunctions, the siren in Dagda and one of the sirens in Rēzekne did not work.

In Vidzeme, 26 out of 28 deployed sirens were tested. 23 sirens worked without malfunctions. The sirens in Strenči and two in Limbaži did not work, while the sirens in Ape and Līgatne were not tested.

The VUGD asked hotel authorities to inform their foreign guests about the upcoming alarm siren checks to avoid unnecessary worries. Ukrainian residents are informed by text message.

Sirens are checked by the VUGD every six months.

In order to improve and develop the existing national early warning system suitable for different types of threat situations, the Information Centre of the Ministry of the Interior has launched a project to introduce a cell broadcasting solution in Latvia. It will provide citizens with simultaneous, rapid and targeted early warnings on their mobile phones in the event of a threat.

Early warning messages will be displayed in a special format with a distinctive sound signal, ensuring the reliability of the messages. They will be different from the usual text messages (SMS), emails and social network messages as they are built in as a separate functionality.

The introduction of cell broadcasting technology in Latvia is planned for 2025.