A chilling map of the UK reveals the likely targets enemy forces would aim for with devastating nuclear bombs. Where are the safest and most dangerous places to be in the country should nukes be headed our way?
Daily Star previously revealed defence officials in the government compiled a list of 106 locations they thought Russia would be ready to strike, marking those areas as “probable nuclear targets”. The declassified documents held by the National Archives showed government predictions of up to 150 nuclear missiles and an unknown number of nuclear launches from submarines hitting the UK, and the hotspots they were set to target.
Targets at the time were set to include Central London, Edinburgh, Teesside, Leicester, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Hull, York, Dover, Cambridge, Maidstone, Huddersfield, Wolverhampton, Coventry and Sheffield. These Cold War simulations are likely to have changed since the days of Edward Heath, but the targets listed remain major centres of population, which may be targeted in order to maximized casualties and damage.
If the worst were to happen then this network of bunkers might finally get their run-out – but where are they and how can you find out? Luckily the answer to that lies in a map filled in on Google.
These shelters aren’t necessarily going to be the most high-tech things you’ve ever seen as they were mainly built during the Cold War when tensions with the West and the USSR (now Russia) reached an all-time high. Chillingly though, never was it thought that this network would be big enough for everyone in the UK to take shelter in.
But, as tensions between east and west cooled, many of the bunkers fell into disrepair. Despite this, some 258 remain spread out across the country.
Other major cities like Birmingham and Manchester also have a good number of bunkers dotted around. Wales has 12 dotted in the north and south although none are located in the central valleys.
Scotland meanwhile has 23 bunkers. The map also gives details on the bunkers describing their state of disrepair.
For example, one in Southwark, South London, has water sitting on the floor but the hand driers still work.
