  the four-minute warning was a public alert system conceived by the british government during the cold war and operated between 1953 and 1992. the name derived from the approximate length of time from the point at which a soviet nuclear missile attack against the united kingdom could be confirmed and the impact of those missiles on their targets. the population was to be notified by means of air raid sirens, television and radio, and urged to seek cover immediately. in practice, the warning would have been more likely three minutes or less. == the warning system == === basic details === the warning would be initiated by the detection of inbound missiles and aircraft targeted at the united kingdom. early in the cold war, jodrell bank was used to detect and track incoming missiles alongside its astronomical research remit.jodrell bank article from 1958 to 1963, the radio telescope was used to give early warning of a soviet attack. plainclothes royal air force officers even worked alongside scientists, engineers and undergraduates with only the director, bernard lovell, and the air ministry knowing who they were.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1088252/soviet-spy-chiefs-tried-make-defect-jodrell-bank-pioneer-sir-bernard-lovell-reveals.html sir bernard lovell mentions this in his autobiography lovell was angry at this arrangement, saying:  throughout the cold war, there was a conflict between the raf and the home office over who was in charge of the warning system. this was not for any practical or technical reason, but more a case of who would receive blame if a false alarm was given or an attack occurred without warning (which could have been as little as thirty seconds from launch to impact on a target). by the 1980s, the warning would be given on the orders of a warning officer from the home office stationed at raf high wycombe.http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/features/sfs/file_16.htm conflicts over the political fallout explained. from the early 1960s, initial detection of attack would be provided primarily by the raf bmews station at fylingdales in north yorkshire. there, powerful radars would track the inbound missiles and allow confirmation of targets. in later years the first indication of any imminent attack would likely
Cold_War_history_of_the_United_Kingdom Disaster_preparedness_in_the_United_Kingdom Emergency_population_warning_systems History_of_the_United_Kingdom Nuclear_warfare Royal_Observer_Corps