What happens if Putin nukes Britain

EVER since the invention of the atomic bomb, we've lived with the terrifying spectre of one being dropped on Britain. And since the invasion of Ukraine Putin has repeatedly threatened to deploy Russia's nuclear arsenal - but what would happen if he sent a bomb flying to London at 9,000 miles an hour?. Death and destruction on an unfathomable scale are just the flick of a button away. Should Russian warheads be loaded and fired at the West, a doomsday protocol would be chillingly put into action.

Image Credit: The Sun [Test firing of a Russian ICBM.]

What was once unthinkable, would now suddenly become reality. While experts say a nuclear attack is still unlikely, the repercussions would be catastrophic. Here, we reveal what would happen if Putin did push the red button, minute-by-agonising-minute... From his nuclear bunker deep inside the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin gives the order. He is most likely to strike at night, when our response time will be compromised.

Image Credit: The Sun [Illustration of Putin's nuclear arsenal, showing suspected locations of missiles, submarines, and bombers on a map of Russia.]

Military officers confirm the command, and within moments, the launch codes are relayed to missile silos and submarines primed for war. Russia’s doomsday protocol swings into action as nuclear warheads begin their final countdown. Across the West, intelligence satellites detect the launch, triggering instant alerts among world leaders and military chiefs. Within minutes, encrypted warnings are transmitted to the UK’s top security officials.

Image Credit: The Sun [London skyline at sunrise, hazy.]

The Prime Minister is woken from sleep and, still in his pyjamas, rushes to the Pindar - a bunker five floors under the Ministry of Defence which will become the heart of what remains of government. Above ground, the rest of Britain sleeps on. Across the UK, an emergency government alert flashes on mobile phone screens, waking up millions of Brits in the middle of the night. “National Emergency. Seek immediate shelter. Nuclear strike imminent,” the warning would read across people's phones.

Image Credit: The Sun [London skyline at sunset with the London Eye.]

As panic spreads like wildfire, those in major cities like London, Birmingham, and Manchester barely have time to process the message before hell is unleashed. In the capital, some know they have no chance of survival and hold each other close, choosing not to wake their sleeping children. Others panic and hide in bathtubs and under door frames, futile gestures which will be no protection from a nuclear bomb.

Image Credit: The Sun [Royal Navy personnel in the control room of HMS Vigilant submarine.]

Meanwhile, NATO scrambles its forces. A warning is raised across allied nations, with military leaders convening emergency calls to assess the scale of the threat. The skies above Europe are flooded with surveillance aircraft as NATO’s missile defence systems go on high alert, though their ability to intercept Russia’s arsenal is woefully inadequate - nothing can be done to stop this. Within minutes of the alert, Russian hypersonic missiles travelling at 9,000 miles an hour hit their targets.

Image Credit: The Sun [HMS Vengeance submarine at sea.]

The first strike is London, the Houses of Parliament. A fireball one kilometre wide erupts over the city, instantly incinerating everything in its path. Entire neighbourhoods vanish in a flash, and more than a million lives are snuffed out in seconds. Anyone within the M25 will go blind if they witness the explosion - and it's worse for those wearing glasses, for whom the flash will be magnified. Seconds later a pressure wave of air from the bomb will travel miles, bursting eardrums of anyone left alive in the vicinity.

Image Credit: The Sun [Unarmed Trident II ballistic missile launch from HMS Vigilant.]

"London has a vast network of underground tunnels, so we could see the government trying to command the country from underground, and the Royals being able to shelter in these tunnels as well," reveals Professor Anthony Glees, security and intelligence expert from the University of Buckingham. “But the majority of civilians would have nowhere to go. There are no underground bunkers for the masses, and the infrastructure would collapse instantly.

Image Credit: The Sun [President Trump signing pardons in the Oval Office.]

The destruction is total: buildings are flattened, the government is gone, and London is reduced to ashes. Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces an unimaginable decision: retaliate or accept annihilation. The UK's four nuclear-armed Trident submarines are stationed halfway through their patrol in the North Atlantic. As the Commander of one submarine receives word of the London strike, the crew scrambles to make contact with Downing Street.

Image Credit: The Sun [Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin shaking hands.]

But as much as the UK has reason to fear the immediate devastation, Glees said the country’s key asset lies beneath the waves. The UK’s Trident-equipped submarines could fire back with devastating force - ensuring Russia wouldn’t escape unscathed. “The UK’s second-strike capability remains our lifeline, p a second strike," says Glees. As the nuclear explosion’s electromagnetic pulse (EMP) renders communication lines useless, mobile phones and radios die.

Image Credit: The Sun [Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un toasting with wine.]

Emergency calls go unanswered, leaving people in the dark and cut off from help. Cities are left without power, and transportation is at a standstill. People in the south outside the immediate blast radius take to the roads in their millions, desperate to escape the imminent fallout. In countries like Russia, especially during Soviet times, emergency systems like steam trains have been prepared for such an eventuality.