The image of a mushroom cloud and the fear of a four minute warning were ingrained in the minds of all those who lived through the Cold War in the United Kingdom.

The mushroom image created by nuclear tests was seen widely throughout the media and illustrated the threat of the Third World War.

In the event of war, Soviet missiles launched against the United Kingdom would be detected by the Ballistic Early Warning station at RAF Fylingdales in North Yorkshire. This would give only a four minute warning before the missiles began to fall on their intended targets.

These four minutes would have allowed the RAF V-bombers to get into the air but were insufficient to allow the public to have received a warning.

The whole concept of survival during a nuclear war was parodied in popular, music, literature, film and television.

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