Longer list reveals nine UK locations Putin could nuke first if war with Russia broke out

Should the Russians ever decide to nuke the United Kingdom then it's pretty much game over for Britain, but a retaliatory nuclear strike from the UK's arsenal could bring Russia down with it.

All in all, a nuclear war is very much to be avoided if we can help it.

A simulation of a nuclear strike on the UK played on Russian TV claims they'd pretty much be able to wipe us all out, and the UK's own analysis of Russian missile strikes on the UK is rather sobering too.

Russia has enough nuclear weapons that Vladimir Putin could target pretty much the whole of Europe, but some leaked documents indicate where his first choices for missile strikes would be.

At the very top of Putin's list would be a shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, a factory in Hull and a site in Edinburgh, but there are several other targets that leaked Russian documents indicate would be targeted.

It seems as though Putin's top targets are concerned with bits of the UK that have ties to the armed forces (Contributor/Getty Images)

The Financial Times reported on the trio of targets thought to be vital to the UK's shipbuilding industry, and according to the Daily Express, there are six further locations which will be most at risk due to their historic ties to the British armed forces.

They say that Aldershot, Colchester and Portsmouth, Chatham, Tidworth and Salisbury will be on the target list for nuclear devastation, which seems strange because everyone knows the Russians are such admirers of Salisbury Cathedral.

The Express says a Whitehall source told them: "The information includes details of a high-level attack in addition to a low-level strike. A Russian airstrike on UK soil would, of course, be a declaration of war, both on the UK and on the rest of NATO."

The UK's best defence against a nuclear attack is deterrence in the form of our own nuclear weapons and those of our allied nations in NATO.

Only the prime minister knows whether the UK would fire back in the event we were hit with nuclear weapons (Oli Scarff - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

If the missiles do start heading for the UK, then Britain's response will depend on the instructions Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer gives in response as the choice over whether or not to retaliate will be his.

Only the prime minister can order the launching of Britain's nuclear weapons, and should the UK's leadership be killed in an attack then the plans for a response are contained within the Letters of Last Resort.

Each prime minister writes them upon taking office and they are sent to the commanders of Britain's fleet of nuclear submarines.

Should we ever end up in the nightmare scenario, then those letters will contain the prime minister's final orders on what to do with our nuclear arsenal whether that be to retaliate, link up with an allied fleet or decide not to fire back.