The UK’s terror threat has been raised to severe, meaning an attack is “highly likely”, following last night’s attack in Vienna.
A man armed with automatic rifles and a fake explosive vest killed four people and wounded more than 20 others before he was shot dead by police.
Home secretary Priti Patel described the rise in threat level as a “precautionary measure” and said it was “not based on any specific threat”.
The new threat level means an attack is highly likely, according to the government’s classification system. The previous ‘substantial’ level meant an attack was likely.
Britain’s threat level is assessed by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre which is accountable to the domestic intelligence agency MI5 and made up of representatives from 16 government departments and agencies.
