Protect & Survive was available for purchase in the 80s, but it was never distributed to all households.
There was also a series of booklets produced by several local authorities which were also based on the hypothetical nuclear scenario (on London) Operation Square Leg, which was also published as a book (I have a very dog eared paperback of London & the Bomb).
The example below is from Hull and the Bomb (the link has most of, if not the entire booklet)https://xenogothic.com/2021/02/25/hull-and-the-bomb/
Operation Square Leg itself is grim reading. The scenario focuses on thermonuclear weapons of 1MT and above. Unless you’re one of the lucky few in Government or military who’ll be running the show from their bunkers (should they have the opportunity to get there), it’s rather a case of stick your head between your legs and kiss your arse goodbye.
Now, as we have missile guidance systems that can pinpoint a target with extreme accuracy, the modern warheads are therefore more likely to be in the kiloton range. Warheads are expensive, just making the plutonium for the first stage tamper is many millions, if not billions of $$ once you figure in reactor fuel, time, reprocessing, manufacture, movement, upkeep etc.
Thus theoretically, your chances of survival is increased.
Unfortunately, we live on a tiny island, so fallout from ground bursts and our ever changing wind direction would probably make everywhere hotter than a vindaloo.
And would we want to survive anyway? IIRC, in 1966 docudrama The War Game by Peter Watkins, the question is asked, with the answer being, ‘the survivors would envy the dead. It’s a very grim watch making use of cinema verité to horrific effect, so much so the BFI banned it from being televised until the middle of 1985, post Threads & The Day After.
Having been a teen in the 80s, and a member of CND during the Cold War (when the four minute warning was always hanging over our heads), I have made my peace at hoping I’m directly under the bloody thing should we have one thrown this way.
Putin and his continuous sabre rattling (and his alleged Poseidon weapon that’ll wipe the UK off the map, utter bollocks) is always of concern, because he’s irrational and unhinged. Ditto that little pillock in North Korea. And boy do they both like to sabre rattle! I can only assume that both men have very tiny willies.
I recommend Juile’s Atomic Hobo podcast as well, and follow my friend Dr Becky Alexis-Martin on Twitter (or x or whatever it is this week) who wrote Disarming Doomsday.
As for other scenarios like cyber terrorism, flooding, pandemic etc., where collapse of the food chain is possible, then having a week or so of food & water is a good thing. But prepping for a nuclear apocalypse of multiple weapons going boom on the UK?
Sod that.