Coronavirus: On-edge Londoners unnerved as 'air raid sirens' now sound off in capital

Mystery surrounds exactly what caused wailing alarm - with authorities so far not offering any explanation

Sirens (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

It is a crisis that is regularly being compared to the Second World War: coronavirus has upended everyday life, led to severe restrictions on personal freedom and resulted in a mass mobilisation of society not seen for generations.

Now, there may be one more similarity, it seems: air raid sirens appear to have been going off in east London.

Residents already living on edge have reported being further unnerved after wailing alarms sounded across Tower Hamlets, Bow and Poplar on Wednesday morning.

Several took to Twitter to describe the noise – which was reportedly heard as far as Highbury – as sounding like air raid sirens.

And, so far, no-one appears quite sure exactly what it was or who caused them.

Neither the local authority, Tower Hamlets Council, or the Metropolitan Police could offer clarification to The Independent.

"Nobody is aware of any tests or incidents that it could be," said council spokesperson Chris Humphreys.

Suggestions that it may have been an alarm at the Blackwall Tunnel – a semi-common occurrence but perhaps heard for the first time by people working from home – were also dismissed by Transport for London.

"We’ve had a few questions about it – but I’m afraid it isn’t related to the Blackwall Tunnel," spokesperson Kate Hilsen said. "Our surface control room have confirmed that the tunnel hasn’t been closed at any point today, nor do we have a record of a sound as described,"

Either way, the mystery has led to many residents wondering if the alarm may have bee a practice run for something more ominous.

“I wonder if they’re planning on introducing a curfew or something...?” pondered one Twitter user. Another offered an alternative explanation: “I assumed,” they said, “the Martians are invading.”