Travel Risk Atlas

United Kingdom

Northern Europe · Capital London

Level 2 United States Exercise Increased Caution Green Netherlands Green — you can travel Level 2 Canada Exercise a high degree of caution AA Germany No warning in force

Each opens that government's own advisory for United Kingdom — the authoritative version, updated far faster than this page. The UK Foreign Office does not publish travel advice about its own country, so four governments are shown here rather than the usual five.

14.7 Very low risk
Atlas Risk Score · 38th safest of 220
Big Ben, London
Photo: Marcin Nowak / Unsplash

The United Kingdom is a low-risk destination. The dominant traveller crime is phone snatching from the hand, which has become industrialised in central London: mopeds and e-bikes take the phone as you use it on the pavement.

Terrorism remains a formal part of the UK threat picture and the national threat level is published openly, but the practical risk to any individual visitor is very low.

Where the risk actually is

Checked by hand against all five government advisories in July 2026: no part of United Kingdom currently carries a warning against travel. The colour shows the general caution level only.

Aberdeenshire — No specific warningAberdeen — No specific warningAnglesey — No specific warningAnglesey — No specific warningAngus — No specific warningAntrim — No specific warningArds — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArgyll and Bute — No specific warningArmagh — No specific warningBallymena — No specific warningBallymoney — No specific warningBanbridge — No specific warningBarking and Dagenham — No specific warningBarnet — No specific warningBarnsley — No specific warningBath and North East Somerset — No specific warningBedford — No specific warningBelfast — No specific warningBexley — No specific warningBirmingham — No specific warningBlackburn with Darwen — No specific warningBlackpool — No specific warningBlaenau Gwent — No specific warningBolton — No specific warningBournemouth — No specific warningBracknell Forest — No specific warningBradford — No specific warningBrent — No specific warningBridgend — No specific warningBrighton and Hove — No specific warningBristol — No specific warningBromley — No specific warningBuckinghamshire — No specific warningBury — No specific warningCaerphilly — No specific warningCalderdale — No specific warningCambridgeshire — No specific warningCamden — No specific warningCardiff — No specific warningCarmarthenshire — No specific warningCarrickfergus — No specific warningCastlereagh — No specific warningCentral Bedfordshire — No specific warningCeredigion — No specific warningCheshire East — No specific warningCheshire West and Chester — No specific warningCity — No specific warningClackmannanshire — No specific warningColeraine — No specific warningConwy — No specific warningCornwall — No specific warningCoventry — No specific warningCraigavon — No specific warningCroydon — No specific warningCumbria — No specific warningDarlington — No specific warningDenbighshire — No specific warningDerbyshire — No specific warningDerbyshire — No specific warningDerby — No specific warningDerry — No specific warningDevon — No specific warningDevon — No specific warningDoncaster — No specific warningDorset — No specific warningDown — No specific warningDudley — No specific warningDumfries and Galloway — No specific warningDundee — No specific warningDungannon — No specific warningDurham — No specific warningEaling — No specific warningEast Ayrshire — No specific warningEast Dunbartonshire — No specific warningEast Lothian — No specific warningEast Renfrewshire — No specific warningEast Riding of Yorkshire — No specific warningEast Sussex — No specific warningEdinburgh — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEilean Siar — No specific warningEnfield — No specific warningEssex — No specific warningFalkirk — No specific warningFermanagh — No specific warningFife — No specific warningFlintshire — No specific warningGateshead — No specific warningGlasgow — No specific warningGloucestershire — No specific warningGreenwich — No specific warningGwynedd — No specific warningHackney — No specific warningHalton — No specific warningHalton — No specific warningHammersmith and Fulham — No specific warningHampshire — No specific warningHaringey — No specific warningHarrow — No specific warningHartlepool — No specific warningHavering — No specific warningHerefordshire — No specific warningHertfordshire — No specific warningHighland — No specific warningHighland — No specific warningHighland — No specific warningHighland — No specific warningHighland — No specific warningHighland — No specific warningHighland — No specific warningHillingdon — No specific warningHounslow — No specific warningInverclyde — No specific warningIsle of Wight — No specific warningIsles of Scilly — No specific warningIsles of Scilly — No specific warningIslington — No specific warningKensington and Chelsea — No specific warningKent — No specific warningKent — No specific warningKingston upon Hull — No specific warningKingston upon Thames — No specific warningKirklees — No specific warningKnowsley — No specific warningLambeth — No specific warningLancashire — No specific warningLarne — No specific warningLeeds — No specific warningLeicestershire — No specific warningLeicestershire — No specific warningLeicester — No specific warningLewisham — No specific warningLimavady — No specific warningLincolnshire — No specific warningLisburn — No specific warningLiverpool — No specific warningLuton — No specific warningMagherafelt — No specific warningManchester — No specific warningMedway — No specific warningMerseyside — No specific warningMerthyr Tydfil — No specific warningMerton — No specific warningMid Ulster — No specific warningMiddlesbrough — No specific warningMidlothian — No specific warningMilton Keynes — No specific warningMonmouthshire — No specific warningMoray — No specific warningMoyle — No specific warningMoyle — No specific warningNeath Port Talbot — No specific warningNewcastle upon Tyne — No specific warningNewham — No specific warningNewport — No specific warningNewry and Mourne — No specific warningNewtownabbey — No specific warningNorfolk — No specific warningNorth Ayshire — No specific warningNorth Down — No specific warningNorth East Lincolnshire — No specific warningNorth Lanarkshire — No specific warningNorth Lincolnshire — No specific warningNorth Somerset — No specific warningNorth Tyneside — No specific warningNorth Yorkshire — No specific warningNorthamptonshire — No specific warningNorthumberland — No specific warningNottinghamshire — No specific warningNottinghamshire — No specific warningNottingham — No specific warningOldham — No specific warningOmagh — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOrkney — No specific warningOxfordshire — No specific warningPembrokeshire — No specific warningPerthshire and Kinross — No specific warningPeterborough — No specific warningPlymouth — No specific warningPoole — No specific warningPortsmouth — No specific warningPortsmouth — No specific warningPowys — No specific warningReading — No specific warningRedbridge — No specific warningRedcar and Cleveland — No specific warningRenfrewshire — No specific warningRhondda, Cynon, Taff — No specific warningRichmond upon Thames — No specific warningRochdale — No specific warningRotherham — No specific warningRoyal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead — No specific warningRutland — No specific warningSalford — No specific warningSandwell — No specific warningScottish Borders — No specific warningSefton — No specific warningSheffield — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShetland Islands — No specific warningShropshire — No specific warningSlough — No specific warningSolihull — No specific warningSomerset — No specific warningSouth Ayrshire — No specific warningSouth Gloucestershire — No specific warningSouth Lanarkshire — No specific warningSouth Tyneside — No specific warningSouthampton — No specific warningSouthend-on-Sea — No specific warningSouthwark — No specific warningStaffordshire — No specific warningStirling — No specific warningStockport — No specific warningStockton-on-Tees — No specific warningStoke-on-Trent — No specific warningStrabane — No specific warningSuffolk — No specific warningSunderland — No specific warningSurrey — No specific warningSutton — No specific warningSwansea — No specific warningSwindon — No specific warningTameside — No specific warningTelford and Wrekin — No specific warningThurrock — No specific warningTorbay — No specific warningTorfaen — No specific warningTower Hamlets — No specific warningTrafford — No specific warningVale of Glamorgan — No specific warningWakefield — No specific warningWalsall — No specific warningWaltham Forest — No specific warningWandsworth — No specific warningWarrington — No specific warningWarwickshire — No specific warningWest Berkshire — No specific warningWest Dunbartonshire — No specific warningWest Lothian — No specific warningWest Sussex — No specific warningWestminster — No specific warningWigan — No specific warningWiltshire — No specific warningWokingham — No specific warningWolverhampton — No specific warningWorcestershire — No specific warningWrexham — No specific warningYork — No specific warningLough NeaghLoch NessLough DergLough ReeLough AllenLoch LochyUpper Lough Erne
What governments advise No specific warning

What this means in practice

  • Whole country — No specific warning. No government currently advises against travel to any part of this country. The base colour reflects general caution levels only.

Advisories change without warning. Check the official one for your own nationality — linked at the top of this page — before you book.

What drives the score

Each pillar is scored 0–100 against every other country. Longer bar = more risk.

Natural hazards
10% of score · mainly flooding
35/100
85th of 220
Political stability
10% of score
28/100
49th of 220
Official advisories
25% of score
17/100
102nd of 220
Crime
15% of score
15/100
24th of 220
Health & medical
15% of score
8/100
33rd of 220
Road & transport
10% of score
5/100
13th of 220
Conflict & terrorism
15% of score
2/100
31st of 220
Women's safety
not in the score
29/100

Biggest factor here: natural hazards. Earthquakes, floods, cyclones, drought and tsunami exposure.

Practical facts

The things worth knowing before you land.

Emergency number
999
112 also works. Non-emergency police: 101
Currency
GBP £
€1 ≈ 0.86 GBP
Languages
English
Visa (EU passport)
180 days visa-free
US: eTA required · UK: No visa needed
Population
69.5m
World Bank 2025
Capital
London
Driving
On the left
3.2 road deaths per 100k
Power
Type G
220-240V
Safely managed water
100%
Widely available · of residents, not a tap-water verdict
Dialling code
+44
GDP per capita
$58k
A rough guide to price levels
Visitors a year
40.9m
International arrivals, 2019

When to go

Average daytime high and nightly low for London, over 2010-2019. Bars are rainfall; the colour band is how hot the days get.

Mildest and driest around June to September.

Daytime high cold mild warm
Top figure is the average daytime high, below it the average nightly low, and millimetres of rain under each bar. Figures are the average daytime high; bar heights are the month's rainfall. Shaded months are the mild, drier ones. Source: NASA POWER daily observations, 2010-2019, public domain.

Common scams in United Kingdom

Patterns reported repeatedly by travellers and local police. None of this is about individual businesses — it's about set-ups you can learn to spot in seconds.

Moped and e-bike phone snatching

Central London, especially Westminster and CamdenVery common

A rider mounts the pavement or reaches from the road and takes the phone from your hand while you are walking, navigating or on a call. It is over in under a second.

How to avoid it: Do not walk near the kerb with your phone out. Enable a stolen device lock and note your IMEI. Do not chase.

Sources Metropolitan Police theft prevention r/london phone theft threads

Unlicensed minicabs outside clubs and stations

London nightlife areasCommon

A driver offers a ride from the pavement. Legally, only black cabs can be hailed in the street; a minicab must be booked in advance. Unbooked cars are uninsured for passengers and have been linked to serious assaults.

How to avoid it: Book through an app or a licensed office, or use a black cab. Check the TfL licence disc in the car window.

Sources Transport for London — safer travel at night

Contactless card 'tap' at ticket barriers

London UndergroundOccasional

Someone offers to tap you through the barrier with their card 'because the machine is down' and asks for cash well above the fare, or takes your card to tap it and swaps it.

How to avoid it: Tap your own contactless card or phone. Staff at the gateline wear TfL uniforms and never take payment in cash.

Sources TfL fares and ticketing

Risk hotspots

Specific places that come up again and again — either in government advisories or in traveller reports. Everywhere else in United Kingdom is not automatically fine, but these are the areas worth a plan.

Oxford Street, Soho and Westminster Bridge Phone theft

The highest phone-snatching density in the country. Crowded, well-policed and safe in every other respect.

Late-night city centres on weekends Alcohol-related violence

Assaults across UK cities cluster between 11pm and 3am on Friday and Saturday, almost always between people who have been drinking.

Phone snatching

Around 70,000 phones a year are stolen in London, overwhelmingly snatched from a hand near a kerb. The pattern is a rider approaching from behind on the road side of the pavement.

Stand away from the kerb when you use your phone, and step into a doorway or shop to check directions rather than walking with it out.

Compare with neighbours

Sources for this page

Vaccinations, malaria and outbreaks. This atlas does not give medical advice — it is personal, it changes, and it is the one thing worth getting from a doctor. Both national services publish current advice for United Kingdom:

CDC Travelers' HealthTravelHealthPro (NHS/UKHSA)

Check the official advisory before you book. This page reflects data as of August 2026. Advisories change without warning, and only your own government's advice affects your travel insurance.