Parents starting an air raid shelter

Have they seen When the Wind Blows? Traumatised my childhood!

Gee, you guys are so naive... The whole of Eastern Europe/Scandinavia is arming hard, buying all the arms they can get and training all their civilians and getting ready for a big war in the next 10 years and that is a fact. Russian bombs maybe won't hapen or maybe will here, nobody knows this. If your parents live close to some army post, it's very likely to be bombarded first if the war starts and if the UK provides i.e. air cover or any other substantial military aid (very likely). It's time to wake up...

There are things called nuclear submarines, you know.

When I think of the whole 'mutually assured destruction' thing my mind goes straight to Ian Gillan and his falsetto .

There are tonnes of old WWII air raid shelters in gardens where I live. I’m semi-convinced there’s actually an underground one in my own garden. Most people seem to use them for storage these days.

I also watch prepped videos on YouTube though I’m just a hoarder, rather than a prepper. I teeter between alarm and admiration of the preppers and their ingenious ways.

In OP’s shoes, I’d probably be round at the parents house helping with the build. 😳

@PanicStations2025 If they are filling their basement cellar with supplies, seems like a good idea to me. Even if it is just a major disruption to supplies, no harm in them doing that. I know people in the US who have done the same thing for quite a long time ( a number of years) and if it provides some reassurance, then why not!

Me too!
We live within 500 yards of a top secret surveillance facility, presumably a good target for Russia or any other idiot.
Digging anything is impossible as we’re pretty much on bedrock and, quite frankly, I cba.
At 71 I’ve lived through several doomsday predictions and I’d rather be annihilated than struggle on until the inevitable 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Poopeepoopee Sadly - we ARE in range of both Russian Cruise Missiles and Nuclear Missiles. And the UK is not well defended by air if it comes to it.

The last of the US Cruise Missiles was removed from Greenham Common in 1992 - but there are still Trident Missiles and Nuclear Submarines based at Faslane, off the West coast of Scotland.

Of course, a nuclear war is highly unlikely to happen, but not all missiles have nuclear capability - and there are some which could reach the UK from, say, Kalingrad, where Putin is purported to be upgrading the systems there. That's less than 900 miles from UK

It's all very scary stuff.

Building a bomb shelter: generally insane. If we are bombed it will be with nukes and it will be much better to die in the initial blast rather than dying slowly over the subsequent weeks due to being in a shelter. The only shelters worth being in will be the ultra deep government shelters that have been tooled up with air and water purification plant and hydroponics facilities enough to be self-sustaining for years, and that won’t be achievable on a domestic scale.

Laying in supplies to function off-grid for up to a week: pretty sensible. Much more likely than bombing is attacks on our infrastructure that could lead to being without electricity, gas and mains water for a few days, and possibly unable to reach shops, or possibly shops empty/closed due to the same issues - but most domestic homes don't have the space to reserve that much stuff, so building a "bomb shelter" to act as a storage cupboard for those supplies isn't insane if they have the resources to do so.

You"re right in a way but those numbers you quote are almost certainly too high for anything the Russians.might throw at the UK, certainly from western Russia ....

One of the big problems with defending against any ballistic missile, even a short range one, is that unless it's pretty much coming directly at you (i.e. you are pretty much on it's target) your interceptor missile will have a tough time coping with the rate at which the incoming object moves across the sky....

That's one of several reasons why with current technology anti-missile systems aren't that widespread or can only defend a relatively small area.

Many people on this thread might be interested in The Wargame podcast from Sky News. It’s an interesting listen

open.spotify.com/episode/24V3CrPvYVI9vHK5F7pwUJ?si=xi7Ut0gYQwytB4Imb7JTMA

I have food, bottled water etc to last a week. I grew up in an earthquake zone, and it's in case something goes wrong and you can't get out, and emergency services can't get in. It's rotated through the pantry tho, not in a shelter!

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90 grand for a family bunker - other options are available !!

www.uknukeshelters.co.uk/the-family-bunker

You are spectacularly ill-informed. ICBMs can’t be shot down. They don’t fly over Europe, they go 4500km into space and then descend at 24,000kph.

Threads is the most frightening film I have ever seen You don't want to survive if it does happen.

I like that the most frightening bit is the woman weeing herself 😂

Nuclear War - Annie Jacobsen

Your parents will probably find this book very interesting, @PanicStations2025 .

If they are really worried about a nuclear holocaust then their preparations need to involve moving to south Argentina or New Zealand stat.

I cant work out how it would a actually make a difference these days, it logically makes no sense gives people a hobby i guess

I work in a global team, some of my colleagues in India and US are building bunkers. It seems quite a few people are around the world...
There are booming bunker businesses, just google them.
I havent gor the room or the funds to build one.. but if I had an acre of land, a large pot of cash floating about and time on my hands I can't say I wouldn't invest.. just in case!

Better safe than sorry. I always find people with attitudes like this are the ones that take fuck all precautions then expect everyone else to drop everything and bail them out. Yes, i think building a shelter is a step too far but at the same time i wouldn't be that rude and start name calling. What is so wrong with making sure you have a stock just in case something happens or you can't get out of the house for a week? Didn't we all learn after the pandemic to have at least a weeks worth of supplies?

And dying of cancer from radiation later on...I agree.

I am intrigued by the certainty with which some posters feel sure any missile would get shot down.

Here’s ChatGPTs take for anyone interested:

1. Flight Time of an ICBM from Russia to the UK

An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) travels extremely fast—typically at speeds of up to 24,000 km/h (15,000 mph) in midcourse. Here’s an approximate timeline:

Distance from western Russia to the UK: ~2,500 to 5,500 km, depending on launch point.

Flight phases:
Boost phase (launch to space): ~3 minutes
Midcourse phase (in space): ~20 minutes
Reentry and terminal phase: ~1–2 minutes

👉 Total estimated time: 20 to 30 minutes, possibly as little as 15 minutes for some shorter-range ICBM trajectories.

2. Likelihood of Interception Before Impact
Intercepting an ICBM is one of the most difficult challenges in missile defense:

Factors that make interception hard:
High speed and altitude: Midcourse phase occurs in space, making it hard to detect and target.
Multiple warheads: Many ICBMs carry MIRVs (Multiple Independently targetable Reentry Vehicles).
Decoys and countermeasures: To confuse missile defense systems.
Limited coverage: Few countries have systems capable of attempting intercepts of ICBMs, and most are untested in real-world conditions.

UK missile defense reality:
The UK does not currently operate its own dedicated missile defense system against ICBMs.
The UK relies heavily on early warning from the US and NATO.
The US has Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) and other systems, but these are:
Designed primarily to counter limited launches from rogue states.
Not guaranteed to stop a full-scale ICBM attack from a nuclear power like Russia.

👉 Intercept probability: Low to very low, especially for a full-scale or surprise Russian strike.

Not to depress you or anything…

I think the pp meant they have a lot of free time on their hands so worry about weird things.
OP, since the blackout in Iberia this spring I have decided to have certain items for emergencies as I did get caught out as everything in my house is electric.

This isn't the 1940s. If we get bombed by a superpower it'll likely be nukes, and no garden shelter will protect you from those. If the bombs come down I want a target on my head so that I'm first out. Can't imagine coming out to the devastation they'd leave behind.