UK government raises terrorist threat level

The raising of the threat level followed six months of it being at 'substantial', after it was lowered in July 2009. A 'severe' threat is the second highest of five levels, meaning the government considers an attack 'highly likely', superseded only by 'critical', suggesting an attack is imminent.

While Home Secretary Alan Johnson provided no reason for raising the threat level, media speculation focused on the possibility it was related to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed attempt to bring down an airliner over Detroit on 25 December 2009. The 23-year-old Nigerian had been equipped with a new type of explosive device by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the Yemen-based group that claimed the attack.