Government drew up '106 probable UK nuclear targets' during last war with Russia

If things were to have gone south during the Cold War, here are all the places which the UK deemed at risk of attack from Russia.

Fortunately for the existence of humanity, the USA and its NATO allies never came into direct conflict with Russia (then the USSR) during the Cold War.

But if the unthinkable were to have happened, the British government had a lengthy list of places it had earmarked as potential targets for the Soviets.

We've all, of course, seen plenty of articles outlining the safest cities and best places to hide in the house should we come to nuclear war; although I'd personally argue that it wouldn't really matter if nukes are flying in both directions across the sky.

But hey, it's always good to be prepared.

So with that cheery thought in mind, what are the 106 locations which the British government thought would be vulnerable to attack?

The prospect of nuclear war is unlikely, yet still a terrifying one (Getty Stock Images)

While modern military targets remain shrouded in mystery (for obvious reasons), the historical list, drawn up in 1972, is readily available online, with an illustrative map even being shared on Reddit three years ago.

Of the 106, the list contained a mix of strategic and military locations, these are:

• 24 towns and cities
• 14 centres of government (It's bad news if you're in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast)
• 23 RAF bases
• 14 USAF bases
• 10 radar stations
• 8 military control centres
• 7 naval communications centres
• 6 naval bases.

Locations in the UK marked at risk of a nuclear attack

Anyone living in or in proximity to London, as well as the regional captials and major population centres, will likely already know it's bad news.

Key population centres such as London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast are on the list (Getty Stock Images)

However, residents of smaller cities and market towns shouldn't be feeling too complacent as locations such as Cambridge, Southampton and Teeside also made the list.

As did Swansa, Huddersfield and Newcastle, Wolverhampton, Manchester, Liverpool... the list goes on.

Of course anywhere within proximity to any military base or installation is at risk, which means the residents of Plymouth, Northern Scotland and East Anglia also make it onto the list.

There's more bad news for Scotland as well, as the western town of Faslane sits close Clyde Naval Base, the home of the UK's Trident nuclear deterrent.

Check out the full map below:

What would happen if the UK were to be attacked with a nuclear weapon?

It doesn't take a scientist to know that it would be bad news if the UK were hit with a nuclear missile.

In a scenario in which Russia (or any hypothetical hostile nuclear power) were to hit the UK, up to hundreds of thousands would die in the blast, depending on where was hit, with millions more suffering through radiation sickness as well as the collapse of national infrastructure and food chains.

If that's not enough to keep you up at night, there's also a website which reveals the prospective damage a nuclear strike would have on any area in the UK.