UK terrorism threat raised to severe

The UK's terrorism threat level has been upgraded from 'substantial' to 'severe', meaning that an attack is highly likely.

Whilst there is no specific intelligence of an imminent incident, the decision from security chiefs follows two recent incidents in Europe. On 2 November there was a shooting in Vienna in which four people died, whilst last week three others died in a knife attack in Nice, France, after a teacher was murdered in Paris last month.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the British people should be 'alert but not alarmed', stating that the move was 'a precautionary measure' and reassuring that significant steps had already been taken to amend powers and strengthen the tools for dealing with developing terrorist threats.

Assessments of threat levels are taken by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), which makes its recommendations independently from the government.

Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, head of UK counter terrorism policing, also stressed that there was no intelligence to link any of the attacks in France or Austria to the UK but said his officers were working with international partners, and providing assistance.

He said the public could expect to see additional police officers deployed to certain places and locations over the coming days. Police would also work closely with local businesses, faith groups and community groups to provide reassurance and seek their support.

The UK's terrorism threat level was raised to the highest rating, 'critical', in the days following the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017. It last reached that level again briefly in September that year, after a bomb partially exploded on a Tube train at Parsons Green.

The threat level remained at the second highest rating, 'severe', until last November when it was downgraded to 'substantial', where it has stayed until now.