Britain vulnerable to space nuclear attack or 'solar flare' storm, conference told

n a stark warning, Dr Liam Fox warned countries that sought nuclear capabilities could attack Britain from the upper atmosphere instead of through more traditional “nuclear strikes”.
The Defence Secretary disclosed that British officials believe such an attack involving a nuclear detonation would destroy vital electronic systems by producing an electromagnetic pulse.

Dr Fox also told the international conference on the vulnerability of electricity grids around the world to natural disaster and hostile attack, that an impending “solar flare” space storm could produce just as much damage to communication networks.
He highlighted warnings from scientists that essential infrastructure could be paralysed by a once-in-a-century solar flare.
But Dr Fox warned that terrorists might seek to employ such methods. He urged the public to take greater heed of the threat.
"I think it's a subject that we need to give a good deal more attention to, not least because we are in an era where there are those who seem to believe that we can choose to enter or not enter certain conflicts, and also because we live in a war where proliferation is becoming more not less the case," he said.
"And when we are discussing North Korea or Iran, for example, people need to understand there are other risks than just what we would consider the sort of nuclear strike we saw in Nagasaki or Hiroshima.
"The range of risks out there are many fold and I think we need to make that extremely apparent to the public."

[link to www.telegraph.co.uk]