How to use the online alarm clock
Preparing now to meet a train at King’s Cross gives you time to check the route, allow for the Underground journey and set an alarm for 1:23 pm before you need to leave. With 2:00 pm approaching, the alert can mark the point when planning stops and the trip to the station begins, without making you watch the clock.
A King’s Cross departure may need either a gentle cue or an alarm that cuts through conversation and background noise. Choose a softer tone if the phone will be beside you in a quiet room; use a more insistent sound if it will be in a coat pocket or across the room. Set the volume beforehand and leave the alarm page active with the phone awake, otherwise the train reminder will not sound. A separate backup alarm is sensible when missing the alert would mean missing the departure.
Before setting off at midday, a light snack and some water are easier to manage than carrying an unfinished meal towards the station. If lunch would make the journey rushed, leave it until after the train is boarded and take something compact for later. Avoid filling the final minutes before 1:23 pm with another cup of tea: checking keys, ticket details and the correct King’s Cross platform information is a calmer use of that short window.
Common questions
Will it still be right when the clocks change?
Yes. It reads your device's local clock, so the move between GMT and BST at the end of March and October is picked up automatically, as long as the computer's date, time and time zone are set correctly.
Can I use this on a phone?
It works in a mobile browser, but phones lock the screen and suspend background tabs far more readily than a laptop does, which can stop the alarm sounding. For anything important, a desktop or a plugged-in laptop is the steadier option.
Does the alarm still work if I close the tab?
No. Everything runs inside this page, so closing the tab — or quitting the browser altogether — ends the countdown there and then. Leaving it open in the background is all it asks, and switching to another tab makes no difference.
What happens if my laptop goes to sleep before 1:23 pm?
The tab sleeps along with it and the alarm will not sound on time, if at all. If you are relying on it, change the power settings so the machine stays awake, or keep a phone alarm running as well.
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