BRITS have been left fuming after a blaring emergency alert suddenly ripped through millions of phones tonight, warning of the soaring risk of wildfires.

The government urged people to “not light anything that could spark a fire”, including barbecues, campfires and fireworks, as Britain battles another spell of scorching heat.

But the deafening siren accompanying the alert immediately sparked a backlash, with some questioning whether such an ear-splitting warning was necessary.

One furious Brit said: “@GOVUK absolute abuse of the Severe Alert system, which is now being turned off on my phone.

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“You’ve totally undermined the purpose of the system. Send a text, for sure, but don’t abuse emergency broadcast systems to tell us about not using BBQs.

Another fumed: “The noise accompanying that emergency alert feels overkill.

“Lot of older people or those hiding phones for their safety possibly put at risk. Does it have to come with a loud noise?”

Another blasted the siren, which pierced through the UK just minutes ago, saying it sounded more like a warning to flee for your life than a reminder to put away the barbecue.

They wrote: “It’s for emergencies, so the noise seems reasonable. Whether it should have been used on this occasion is a different matter

One more commented: “The noise was giving ‘you have 10 minutes to evacuate your home’ not ‘put the BBQ away’.”

The blaring alert pinged phones across the country at around 7pm today, accompanied by a piercing siren designed to grab attention.

It warned: “Even a small flame can rapidly develop into a major wildfire placing lives, homes, businesses and emergency responders at risk.”