Fears of World War 3 are on the minds of world leaders and civilians alike, not least following recent developments in Russia. Now, a map reveals what exactly would happen to the UK if nuclear bombs were dropped in specific locations.
British forces helped shoot down a number of drones and missiles Iran confirmed to have fired towards Israel on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Adding to this, rumours have been tossed around that British long-range missiles were sent into Russia during their 1000 day conflict with Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has officially verified a document which allows him to use nuclear weapons if his country is “threatened.” Adding to this, the British Government sides with Ukraine and Israel facing off against Putin’s Russia, Hamas and Iran respectively.
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As such, many people are asking what would happen if nuclear war were to reach the UK and where the safest and most dangerous places are in the country should nukes be headed our way. An interactive map reveals all.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Greater London
Reports show there are 38 towns and cities across Britain have been identified by defence officials in The Government as “probable nuclear targets”, should WW3 break out. However, with London being the capital and being previously hit in World War II, it seems likely Putin could make it his first port-of-call.
Currently, 8.8million people live in the capital. That is around 13% of the UK’s population. If a nuclear weapon was dropped in the slap-bang centre of London, we would expect to see it fall in Trafalgar Square, home to the National Portrait Gallery and just a stones throw away from Buckingham Palace.
We are assuming Putin would utilise the terrifying Tsar Bomba, which is the largest bomb ever designed by the USSR. While it has never been dropped, it has a warhead yield of 100000kilotons. As a reference, Oppenheimer’s Hiroshima bomb had a yield of 13 kilotons in 1945.
The average US nuclear weapon has a yield of 200 kilotons. The UK’s Trident II D5 ballistic missile has a power of 100 kilotons.
If the bomb were to be dropped, the immediate zone would be engulfed in what is known as the “fireball radius.” This means anything inside the zone is effectively vaporised from the sheer nuclear force. There would be nothing left, and everyone inside would immediately die.
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If landing in Trafalgar Square, this zone would reach 6.71km. This means Clapham, Brixton, Kilburn, Camden Town, Islington and Hackney would cease to exist.
Westminster would fall and all of London’s iconic landmarks would also be demolished to dust. There is no survival in the fireball radius.
Parts of Zone 2 and Zones 3 onwards have a slightly higher chance of survival, as they are placed in the “moderate blast damage radius.” Contrary to the name, the damage here seems far from moderate. With most residential buildings collapsing, universal injuries and fatalities are widespread.
The next radius contains almost half of Surrey, minus – unfortunately for racing fans – Epsom, which is in moderate. Over in Essex Chelmsford, Southend-on-Sea, and Buckinghamshire’s High Wycombe and even half of Milton Keynes are in the next level down in the thermal radiation radius.
According to the official Nukemap, here residents can expect: “Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin, and are often painless because they destroy the pain nerves. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation.”
Next, the light blast damage radius covers the rest of Milton Keynes, Oxford, Cambridge, Colchester, Canterbury, Brighton and their surrounding areas. Here residents will see the initial flash from the bomb.
Glass windows would break, including several injuries. They are not radiation free, but this zone is often used as a benchmark for light damage in cities.
The end of the reign of terror for the initial bomb would be in Winchester, which is the closest city to the damage, which lies just outside the radius zones. Portsmouth, Salisbury, Ipswich and Ely are also safe.
Manchester
The north of England is home to around 15 million people, and Scotland boasts a population of 5.4million. The likelihood of Putin or other enemy forces dropping a bomb there should not be ignored.
Previous potential targets form the Soviet Union in the 1970s were thought to be Central London, Edinburgh, Teesside, Leicester, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hull, York, Dover, Cambridge, Maidstone, Huddersfield, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Sheffield.
The current metro area population of Manchester in 2024 is 2,812,000. How would it be directly affected if a bomb landed there?
If the bomb were to drop on the Central Retail District, near the Northern Quarter, the whole area would be instantly dead. This includes Eccles, Droylsden, Failsworth and Stretford.
The historical Roman-era city centre would fall completely in fireball radius. Huge flames, radiation and noise would engulf all the residents of 6.71km area.
Next in the moderate damage radius holds Macclesfield, Warrington, Rochdale, Bolton, Bury, Northwich, Ripponden and other surrounding areas.
Accrington Stanley is half in the moderate zone, as well as Chorley and Buxton. There, they can expect ruptured gas lines, sharp metal objects and glass flying, as well as huge fires which are easily spread.
The thermal radiation zone, which causes severe skin and eye burns, flash blindness and charred clothing, pretty much covers all the major cities surrounding Manchester. This includes Preston, Liverpool, Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford, Wrexham, Chester and Stoke-on-Trent.
Light blast damage radius hits some of the Midlands, including Nottingham and parts of North Birmingham.
Cardiff
A nuclear bomb dropped on Wales’ capital would cause terror across the rugby-loving country, as well as the South West of England.
Zone one would engulf the city centre and stretch all around to parts of the ocean as well as Penarth. While that’s the only major city to be initially struck, Newport is engulfed in the next “moderate damage” zone, totalling at least 700,000 people put at risk of immediate death.
This second wave would also extend over into England, with Weston-Super-Mare and the outskirts of Bristol put in danger. Next, Swansea, Bristol, Bath and Wells are covered in the thermal radiation zone. If members of the public can survive the initial bomb in those areas, chances are they will develop a long-term illnesses such as leukaemia.
After that, Exeter, Gloucester, Herefordshire and parts of Worcestershire will also suffer with severe long-term affects off the bomb. It is even thought people in these areas would see the flash of the initial landing.
Glasgow
Unfortunately most of the Lowlands would be taken out by an atomic bomb dropped on Scotland’s biggest city. Home to around 600,000 people, the historic area would be reduced to dust and rubble almost instantly.
Areas such as Kilmarnock and Bannockburn are placed on the border between the two zones. Here they can still expect some instant deaths, but outer areas might live long enough to see the destruction.
Stirling, Edinburgh and Dunfermline are firmly in the radiation zone, so they would experience harsh burns and a high chance of fires.
Perth is lumbered in the next zone, but Dundee makes it out of the explosion relatively unscathed. The Highlands also remain untouched.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
What happens to survivors?
Not many nuclear weapons have been dropped, so to see how survivors fare, many people refer to the Hiroshima bombing of 1945. It killed an estimated 140,000 people in Hiroshima, and a further 74,000 in Nagasaki.
Among the survivors, many suffered debilitating conditions such as developing cancer, including leukaemia and solid cancers. Not only that, many endured genetic damage and several mothers reported birth defects in their children.
Not to mention the other effects, including contamination of the environment, Disruption of the global climate, Nuclear famine, Nuclear winter, and Refugee crisis.
Most people in Hiroshima suffered shortened life expectancy and psychological damage at the very least.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Putin’s bomb
Vladimir Putin has warned he currently has a new Oreshnik hypersonic missile in his arsenal. The Times of Ukraine channel on Telegram has issued a stark caution that this missile could reach British soil in just 20 minutes, suggesting that the Oreshnik might be a rebranded version of the old Cold War intercontinental RS-26 Rubezh missile.
However, the missile is said to be experimental and Russia only has a handful of them. This is also not a nuclear weapon.
Previously it was thought that Putin had around 5,580 nuclear warheads. The US have 5,044, and the UK only has an estimated 225.
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