BBC Radio 2 went off air for the first time in two decades during a fire scare on Thursday.
During Jeremy Vine’s program, an unexpected fire alarm went off, causing an immediate evacuation of the building.
The employees at Broadcasting House near Oxford Street were instructed to step outside while authorities looked into the activated alarm.
During a radio conversation, a faint sound of an automated warning came up in the background for Jeremy.
The presenter swiftly shared that everyone needed to exit the building, as he was going to play some music while away.
But for several seconds the station was completely silent before Jeremy returned.
He said: ‘It’s Radio 2 here. I do apologise, we did just have a proper fire alarm here.
Even though there was no fire, an unusual incident occurred – for the first time in twenty years, not only one light went out, but two did simultaneously.
The orange light signaling potential fire, followed by the red light, seemed to indicate an incident, backed up by the subsequent studio announcement.
‘We came out the building. We stood outside in the sun. There’s no fire, so we came back in.
‘Because there’s no fire we are going to cancel the item we were doing on cremation.’
It turns out that the disruption didn’t just affect Jeremy’s program; even Lauren Laverne’s music show on Radio 6 experienced a brief interruption, as a 30-second silence occurred prior to the music starting.
Upon reclaiming her seat, she addressed the audience, saying, “I appreciate your messages; everything is fine here at the studio. There were some technical problems we encountered, but we’re now up and running again.
Some people, surprised by the silence on the national radio station, turned to X as a means of conveying their astonishment.
Amazingly, there was a genuine silence during BBC Radio 2 due to a fire alarm causing an interruption in the Jeremy Vine segment, leading to the evacuation of the studio buildings.
‘Never heard a radio station go silent like that before and now it seems like it’s on auto-pilot..’
Others wrote: ‘Sounds very strange fam’ and ‘I was just thinking the same’.
Read More
- Clash Royale Best Boss Bandit Champion decks
- Vampire’s Fall 2 redeem codes and how to use them (June 2025)
- World Eternal Online promo codes and how to use them (September 2025)
- Best Arena 9 Decks in Clast Royale
- Mobile Legends January 2026 Leaks: Upcoming new skins, heroes, events and more
- Country star who vanished from the spotlight 25 years ago resurfaces with viral Jessie James Decker duet
- How to find the Roaming Oak Tree in Heartopia
- M7 Pass Event Guide: All you need to know
- Kingdoms of Desire turns the Three Kingdoms era into an idle RPG power fantasy, now globally available
- Solo Leveling Season 3 release date and details: “It may continue or it may not. Personally, I really hope that it does.”
2025-03-06 18:10