A newly created nuclear strike map reveals the devastating impact on UK cities if a nuclear attack were ever launched on Britain, with major population centres including Sheffield, London and Birmingham facing complete destruction.
The map, inspired by the announcement that the 1980s nuclear horror film Threads is being remade for the 21st century, was put together by Reddit user u/StGuthlac2025. It sets out the exact blast and fallout zones for atomic bombings of major population centres across the country.
Map details blast and fallout zones
Threads is an apocalyptic movie released in the 1980s which shows, in gruesome detail, what would happen if a nuclear bomb were to be dropped on Sheffield in South Yorkshire. Last year, Warp Films, the studio behind hit Netflix breakout Adolescence, announced it is remaking the nuclear war movie as a TV series.
The Redditor said: "Was a little bored and read that they were going to do a reboot of Threads. So I made this to see what a modern strike may look like."
"Solid inner circle: Blast destruction zone. Buildings collapse, debris lethal. Dashed outer circle: Thermal burn zone. Severe/fatal burns and mass fire ignition. Burst type: Airburst (solid marker fill) maximises blast and thermal effects, minimal local fallout."
"Ground burst (faint marker fill): Smaller blast radius but produces radioactive fallout. Red = wave 1 targets, orange = wave 2 targets, black = wave 3 targets."
Which cities would be hit
Cities which would be all but wiped off the map include Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, most of London, Cardiff, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Portsmouth, Plymouth and Swansea.
Areas which would escape this onslaught include St Davids and St Asaph in Wales, Truro in Cornwall and Matlock and Bakewell in Derbyshire as well as Chester, Worcester and Canterbury.
Reactions and UK deterrent stance
Some users were thankful they were in the blast zone. u/smushs88 said: "Based on OP's map I've got about 3 landing square on me. Which is ideal, saves me from a post apocalyptic wasteland."
u/feralwest added: "I believe I'd be incinerated but having watched Threads many times, I feel that is tbh the best outcome. Noone wins in a nuclear war."
The UK Government stresses that its nuclear deterrent would avoid such a catastrophe. It says via gov.uk: "The UK's independent nuclear deterrent has existed for over 60 years to deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life, helping to guarantee our safety, and that of our NATO allies."
"The risk of nuclear conflict remains remote, but the threats the UK faces are increasing in scale, diversity and complexity. That is why we must be able to deter the most extreme acts of aggression against us and our NATO allies."
The government adds that the UK has taken a consistent and leading approach on nuclear disarmament but not all states have followed, with some significantly increasing and diversifying their nuclear capabilities. It states that deterrence plays a key role in keeping the public safe, and to abandon the nuclear deterrent would put everyone at greater risk.
Since April 1969, the Royal Navy has maintained continuous at sea deterrence, with at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine patrolling the seas undetected at all times, ready to respond to the most extreme threats to the UK. The government says this continuous at sea deterrent is the most capable, resilient, and cost-effective platform on which to deploy the independent nuclear deterrent.
