Each year the UK government produces a “Risk Register” of what the Government believes are the greatest threats to the UK and its people.

Click here to view the UK Risk register

As of 2024 the top 4 most Catastrophic risks are:

• A Pandemic Event ( 5%-25% likely to happen)
• Failure of the UK electricity supply network ( 1%-5% likely to happen)
• Large Scale CBRN attack (1%-5% likely to happen)
• Civil Nuclear accident ( <0.2% Likely to happen)
• Radiation Release from Overseas site (<0.2% Likely to happen)

Although these are deemed to have the most catastrophic impact on the UK you can see that their likelihood is low (apart from a 2nd pandemic). There are however lower impacting incidents that are deemed to have an increased likelyhood of happening. These are:

• International Terrorist Attack (>25% likely to happen)
• Northern Ireland related Terroism (>25% likely to happen)
• Terrorist attack in a public space (>25% likely to happen)
• Assassination of a high level public figure (>25% likely to happen)
• Technological failure of UK critical financial infrastructure (>25% likely to happen)
• Disaster Response in overseas territory (>25% likely to happen)
• Attack on UK ally or member outside of NATO (>25% likely to happen)

As we can see from the list there there are the 2 forms of threat the poses a risk to the UK. Those which have the capacity to have a catastrophic impact to the public and the way of life but are more unlikely to happen or those which have a lesser impact but more likely to happen.

Another Pandemic is seen by the government to be the most significate risk facing the UK in current times.