Horrifying number of people who would die if nuclear attack launched on UK 'exposed'

Up to a million people could face death in London if a nuclear bomb was dropped (Image: Getty)

There have been developments in the possibility of the UK being under threat of a nuclear attack .

In Suffolk, England, there is an RAF base known as Lakenheath, which is run by the USA and is looking very likely to soon receive US/NATO nuclear weapons. With this comes a huge risk for the UK as it puts us on the frontline in a US and Russia war, as global tensions rise.

By housing US nuclear weapons here in England it heightens the country's risk of a nuclear attack. It could be likely if a war were to break out, Lakenheath would be targeted before further strikes are carried out across the country.

While it's understood a nuclear war between the US or NATO and Russia would be catastrophic for everyone, it's important to understand the impact it will have directly on towns and cities across the UK.

According to CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament): "A single nuclear strike on any town or city would be catastrophic for the local community and environment, and the radioactive impact would spread much further.

"But a nuclear war would be catastrophic for all humanity, forms of life, and the entire planet. Yet the possibility of nuclear war is the greatest for many decades."

The radioactive fall-out would impact the health of people nearby for years to come (Image: Getty)

Casualties

Their report states that in total if one Russian warhead, such as an SS-25 or SS-27, were to be dropped in the centre of London, close to a million people would be killed. Similarly, if one were to hit Glasgow, you could expect to see 326,000 casualties, and in Cardiff, 196,000 people would die.

The heart of the nuclear explosion, if it were to detonate, is thought to reach an eye-wateringly high temperature of around several million degrees centigrade. As a result, a heat flash would vaporise all human tissue that exists anywhere within an area of 1.5 square miles.

Back in 1945, when the United States detonated two atomic bombs over Hiroshima in Japan, all that remained within a radius of half a mile were people's shadows burnt into stone. The aerial bombings killed somewhere up to 200,000 people, the majority of whom were civilians.

It's thought anyone in buildings up to four miles away from the explosion would be killed by both the blast and the impact of the heat on the buildings, which would burst into flames.

Not only this, but individual fires would begin to break out creating a firestorm as all of the area's oxygen would be consumed.

When heat rises in this way, air is drawn in from the periphery near ground level. As a result, this would create hurricane-force winds of intense fire and people hiding underground, while they may have survived the initial blast, would die due to lack of oxygen. The report suggests the immediate death rate in this area would be over 90%.

Outside the area

Away from the area facing immediate destruction, you would start to see a gradual increase in deaths among those who survived the initial blast. Around seven miles away from the blast site people would suffer fatal burns or even need amputations, while others would be blinded or have suffered internal injuries.

Unlike a normal disaster, the death rate would be alarmingly high as the majority of emergency services would be incapable of responding with their own staff killed and equipment demolished.

The immense scale of casualties would simply overwhelm the medical resources in the UK, as people up to 11 miles away would even face injuries from broken windows or building damage.

The long-term effects

In the days that follow, even those lucky enough to survive would now be affected by the radioactive fallout, with most dying within a week. This would become apparent in all kinds of ways, from hair loss to bleeding gums, fever, vomiting, delirium and even internal bleeding.

Those faced with lower levels of exposure would still experience complications, such as pregnant women, who face a high risk of miscarriage and birth complications. Meanwhile, long-term effects would also see radiation-induced cancers affecting many civilians, up to twenty years after the blow. It's thought that those exposed to radiation's children are statistically more likely to be born with abnormalities as well as suffer from leukaemia.

Away from public health, nuclear weapons are known to cause severe damage to the environment and the climate on a scale that is incomparable to any other weapon. As a result of nuclear war, predictions have suggested that two billion people would risk starvation thanks to the disruption to the climate and its effects on food production.