By TOM LAWRENCE, NEWS REPORTER

Updated: 04:25 EDT, 22 March 2026

Britain would be forced to rely on American missile defence systems stationed in Europe if Iran launched a rocket attack on the UK similar to the one attempted on Diego Garcia this weekend. 

The warning came after Tehran fired two ballistic missiles on Friday night towards the base in the Indian Ocean, which is jointly operated by the US and the UK. 

The island lies 2,360 miles from Iran, well beyond the 1,240 miles which was thought to be the outer limit of the regime’s reach. 

It potentially puts Paris, 2,609 miles away, and even London – 2,750 miles – within Iran’s range if, as some strategists fear, the country uses its Simorgh space launch technology to extend its missile range. RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus is just 1,000 miles from Tehran. 

Steve Prest, a retired Royal Navy commodore, said: ‘Ballistic missiles are space rockets. They launch, they go really high up and they come down really fast. If you’ve got a space programme, you’ve got a ballistic missile programme.’ 

In a ballistic attack, defence experts say Britain would be forced to rely on American SM-3 defence systems stationed across Eastern Europe, or the Patriot missiles used by the Germans, to intercept rockets. 

The attempted strike on Diego Garcia came as Sir Keir Starmer extended permission for the US to use British bases to launch attacks on the Strait of Hormuz to protect shipping from Iranian assaults. 

Neither of the missiles fired at Diego Garcia hit their target, with one believed to have been shot down by a US warship’s SM-3 interceptor and the other failing in flight. 

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of covering up the attempted attack on Diego Garcia, saying the Prime Minister needed to ‘come clean’ over the details of the launch. 

Government sources confirmed the attack happened before an official statement later said it had allowed the US military to launch strikes on Iran from the island base to help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This came as: 

• The US used ‘bunker buster’ bombs in a reported attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. The munition was designed to be dropped from B-2 stealth bombers to destroy targets up to 200ft underground;
• The American military claimed that Tehran’s ability to threaten ships passing through the Straits of Hormuz had been ‘degraded’;
• The UAE released a joint statement from 22 countries, including Britain, France, Germany, Bahrain and Australia, demanding that Tehran reopen the Straits of Hormuz to shipping;
• Prices of vegetables in supermarkets could rise within weeks as the war in Iran makes the cost of fertiliser and energy soar;
• Holidaymakers were scrambling to book flights and switch destinations to avoid the threat of spiralling fares and disruption caused by the war;
• Motorists could face a 1970s-style 50mph speed limit in an attempt to save fuel under emergency plans;
• Sir Keir promised Cyprus that the British airbase on the island will not be used by the Americans to strike Iran.

The Prime Minister spoke to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and made a commitment that RAF Akrotiri would not be involved in his agreement with Mr Trump on the use of British bases in the war. 

This comes after Mr Christodoulides warned last week that when the war finishes, he will demand negotiations about the future of Britain’s ‘colonial’ military bases on the island.

General Sir Richard Barrons, a former Commander in Chief of British forces, said on Saturday that Iran’s power may have been ‘serially underestimated’.

General Sir Richard, who headed the UK’s Joint Forces Command between 2013 and 2016, said it was previously thought that ‘Iran’s missiles had a range of only 2,000 kilometres [1,240 miles] and Diego Garcia is 3,800 kilometres [2,360 miles] away from Iran’.

He was responding to questions over whether Mr Trump was right to say Britain had done ‘too little and too late’ or whether opponents of the war were correct that the UK had been sucked into an American war.

Meanwhile, vegetable prices could rise within weeks as the cost of fertiliser and energy surges, said National Farmers Union president Tom Bradshaw.

He said Britain no longer had the ability to make fertiliser domestically and was ‘absolutely at the mercy of world markets’.

The Middle East is a key supplier of ingredients used to make fertiliser. Most of these pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran, causing prices to spiral as farmers scramble to buy limited supplies as spring planting season looming.

Prices of imported goods are likely to rise immediately because of higher transport costs, said Mr Bradshaw, adding that increases for other foods would begin to appear in coming weeks.

He added: ‘For vegetables grown in heated greenhouses, such as cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes, it will be over the next month to six weeks that we will see those cost increases coming through to the retailer.’

Stampede for flights before prices soar

By Calum Mairhead

Holidaymakers are scrambling to book flights and switch destinations to avoid spiralling fares and disruption caused by the war.

Travel agents report ‘strong interest’ in European and Caribbean destinations after the reputation of Dubai and other Gulf cities as safe, sun-drenched getaways was shattered by Iranian missiles and drones.

Industry experts say the ‘huge surge in demand’ is being fuelled by people who would normally wait for last-minute deals but are now rushing to lock in bookings ahead of further price rises.

Graeme Buck, of travel industry body ABTA, said: ‘The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to many countries in the area due to the conflict.

‘So in the short term, people need to review what this means for their holiday plans.’

Consumer travel expert Martyn James added: ‘Those trips to Malaga are going to be an awful lot busier than usual.

‘With the chances of fares going up the longer the situation in the Middle East goes on, fewer people will want to take the risk of booking last-minute trips so they will be looking to lock in now to avoid a nasty shock later on.’

Signs of a bookings stampede emerged last week when some of the biggest US carriers including Delta and American Airlines upgraded their sales forecasts for March.

Easyjet boss Kenton Jarvis has advised travellers to book their flights now to avoid higher fares, saying that while the airline was currently protected from higher fuel costs this would not last beyond the summer, so price rises were more likely. 

Motorists face speed limits to save fuel 

By Calum Mairhead

Motorists could be facing a 1970s-style 50mph speed limit in a bid to save fuel, under emergency plans being drawn up as the war causes a global oil supply crunch.

Speed limits are among options reportedly being considered.

Others are thought to include:

• A cap on how much fuel drivers are allowed to buy at the pumps;
• Designating petrol stations for use only by emergency services;
• Limiting their open hours and closing them overnight;
• Restricting sales of diesel to commercial vehicles involved in key areas such as food production and medical supply chains.

While fuel stocks are not yet low enough for drastic measures, the Government could be forced to use emergency powers under the Energy Act, which allows officials to control the supply of fuel if there is a risk of shortages.

Emergency measures were last used in 2000, when a blockade of fuel depots by hauliers sparked nationwide shortages of petrol.

Speed limits to save fuel have not been in place since 1973, when traffic on all roads was restricted to 50mph after the UK and other nations were cut off from Middle Eastern oil exports during the Yom Kippur war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states.

The UK currently has less than 900,000 tons of petrol in storage –enough to meet normal levels of demand for 26 days.

The crisis has piled pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to provide support for motorists, including by scrapping a planned 5p rise in fuel duty in September.

Fiercely composed expression just short of a scowl, neatly trimmed silver hair and a steady delivery with the subtlest of Welsh lilts.

Huw Edwards’ commendably dependable performances from behind a polished desk in the BBC studio were as sure as night followed day.

How jarring will it be, then, two years after his presence vanished from our living rooms, to see that intense glare staring back into the camera once again?

Promotional images for the upcoming drama about the newsreader’s downfall indicate Martin Clunes has certainly captured Edwards’ finely tuned manner.

Leaning earnestly forward, right arm bent over his notes with his left palm down on the desk – it is the pose of a man who carries the weight of history, and one Edwards worked hard to perfect, and Clunes worked equally hard to recapture.

The resulting controversial two-part drama, Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards, will bring a dramatized take on the former BBC news anchor back into our homes when it airs on Channel 5 on Tuesday – prompting many to question: is it too soon? Are the wounds still too raw, for his family, victims, community and once adoring public?

The real Edwards, of course, disappeared abruptly from our screens almost three years ago, making his final appearance presenting the News at One, on July 5 2023, before off-air accusations came to light about him paying a vulnerable young man to send him sexual images.

His downfall was swift, and cemented in September 2024, when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court to admit charges of making indecent images of children and was handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

The full sordid truth, when it was finally laid bare, was truly shocking, and not just for Vicky Flind, his wife of 30 years, and mother to their five children, who promptly left him.

During the police investigation, a number of WhatsApp messages was found on his phone including an exchange with a man later convicted of sex offences.

He’d offered Edwards sick images of someone described as ‘young’ to which Edwards responded with the damning words ‘go on’.

Paedophile Alex Williams would go on to send Edwards 377 images via WhatsApp, including 41 indecent images of children, some showing a victim aged between seven and nine.

‘Amazing,’ came Huw’s appreciative reply. There was no way back for him after that.

Despite the fact that his sentence was suspended and he was given remarkably few legal restrictions under the terms of his licence, the Daily Mail has learned that Edwards has been living a strict, reclusive existence since his tired and pale appearance in court, flanked by his legal team.

The 64-year-old retreated to the quiet Welsh village where his elderly mother, Aerona Protheroe, still lives after moving of the family home in Dulwich, in south east London.

During his days as Britain’s top newsman, Edwards he would regularly immerse himself into village life there, during weekly trips to visit his mother and would often visit the local pub to share a pint with locals.

Staff said he had not shown his face on the premises since the scandal hit, however.

‘He’s not been in since the s**t hit the fan,’ one told the Daily Mail.

‘He used to come in once a week, or whenever he was back here to see his mum. He’d often bring her with him, and sometimes his wife and children.

‘He liked a pint and everyone was pleased to see him back then because he was a local celebrity. How little we knew.’

Edwards was previously in the habit of taking his mother for a stroll along the beach in Llanelli, before sitting and chatting on a bench in the town’s Millennium Park.

The pair would later head to a nearby restaurant and drink tea. But even this ritual appears to have stopped.

‘No one’s got any time for him around here since it all came out about what he’d been up to all these years while pretending to be a church-going pillar of the community.

‘I’m aware of the new film that’s being released, but I think they could have waited a bit longer because it’s all still so raw for a lot of people around here.

‘Aerona is well-respected and I think it would have been better for her if they’d waited until she’d passed before putting it out, but I guess that’s not how the film industry works.

‘This has been awful for her. She’s always been so proud of Huw and he’s let her down as much as anyone. But she’s the only one who’s stood by him. That’s a mother’s love for you, I suppose.’

Edwards may now have grasped the fact that there is no path to redemption for the man who went from Britain’s most respected newsreader – feted for the restrained and graceful way he announced the death of Queen Elizabeth II to the nation in September 2022, and his formidable anchoring of the King’s coronation – to vilified sex offender.

But his ego prevented him from appreciating this sooner.

Last November, Edwards appeared to be gearing up for a comeback – posting a professional headshot in black and white, posed with a moody expression and a salt and pepper beard.

He also reactivated his account on Instagram – the same platform where he first engaged with Williams.

The furious reaction to this activity was enough to extinguish any last flickers of hope that all was not over, however.

The stepfather of Huw’s victim, whose story is to be told in the upcoming drama, said at the time: ‘If he thinks he can just put up a picture of himself and it’s going to change the way people think about him, he’s wrong. He’s scum.

‘You can paint over cracks but you can never hide them. He is finished; he’s a paedophile. Any time he raises his head it is an insult to his victims. He needs to realise this is it and disappear.’

Edwards swiftly deleted his Facebook page and scrubbed all content from his Instagram.

Only a detailed LinkedIn profile remains, documenting Edwards’ path to become BBC’s chief anchor during 39 years at the broadcaster.

Describing himself as ‘journalist, broadcaster, author’, the page makes no mention of the scandal, serving instead as a dusty shrine to a stellar media career that once was.

Despite his almost four decades at the BBC, Edwards’ character was such that he made few close friends among his colleagues.

A former co-worker said: ‘He didn’t have that many friends in the industry before [the conviction.] He was ‘one of the unloved’, for obvious reasons.’

Even Clunes has acknowledged that while researching the role he discovered from former colleagues that Edwards ‘was never fun to work with’.’

The corporation, which is sadly no stranger to such scandal, fought to salvage some honour by demanding that Edwards repay more than £200,000 he earned after his arrest, in November 2023, and April 2024, when he resigned.

BBC Chair Samir Shah wrote in a letter to staff in August 2024 saying that Edwards had ‘behaved in bad faith’ in continuing to take the money despite knowing what he had done,

More than a year-and-a-half on, however, and it appears the same stubbornness that led Edwards to believe he could mount a showbusiness comeback has not gone away.

The Daily Mail can reveal that he has failed to repay a single penny.

Edwards’ suspended sentence will elapse in August, but almost nothing will change for the disgraced newsreader.

Though he will remain on the sex offenders register for another five years, the chief magistrate chose not to hand down a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

This means that Edwards has been able to live as he pleases, with no limitations on where he can go in the UK and no restrictions on his internet or phone use.

He has also been free to travel abroad, provided he gives police seven days’ notice of his plans.

The expiry of his suspended sentence licence will happen without fanfare – there will be no email, letter or phonecall from the probation service.

Edwards should have simply made a note of the date during his probation induction, but will likely take little solace from it elapsing.

For the ire of the public will likely never have an expiry date.

The announcement of a film about such subject matter was naturally met with some controversy, but the makers of Power have defended claims it was too soon to dramatize Edwards’ downfall.

Executive producer Sam Anstiss insisted it was the desire of the young man who disclosed how Edwards paid him thousands for sexual images of himself to tell his story that led to the decision to greenlight the show.

‘The timing was right. [He] was ready to tell his story. There are really urgent themes in this drama around online safety,’ she said.

The young man, who is not named but called Ryan in the drama, is played by Osian Morgan.

At the climax of the two-hour film, the real Ryan tells the audience in a statement he has got his life on track and overcome dependence on drugs.

‘I chose to tell my story now for the first time so no one who has been silenced feels they are alone,’ he says.

‘I refuse to let Huw Edwards or what he did define who I am or the life I will lead.’

Edwards’ own life could have been defined by any number of glittering achievements.

Rather, it will be the his own depravity and foolishness for which he will be remembered.

Additional reporting: Nic North

Israel has warned major cities across the globe, including London, Paris and Berlin, could all be under threat from Iranian missiles after the regime launched a strike on a British military base in the Chagos Islands.

Two ballistic missiles were fired towards Diego Garcia, a base in the Indian Ocean jointly operated by the US and the UK, on Friday night.

Sources reported that one of the missiles failed in flight, while the other was intercepted by a US warship in what is believed to be the first ever strike on the military base. 

The precise timing of the incident is as yet unknown, though the Government confirmed on Saturday that it took place before Keir Starmer gave the go-ahead to for Donald Trump to use UK-based bombers threatening the Strait of Hormuz.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the Prime Minister of a ‘cover up’ on the details and questioned why the public were not told ‘sooner’.

The IDF confirmed the Diego Garcia attack was the first time Iran had launched a long-range missile, capable of reaching a distance of around 4,000km, since the start of the war. 

‘The Iranian terrorist regime poses a global threat. Now, with missiles that can reach London, Paris or Berlin,’ it added.

Hours after the strike, Iran declared it had ‘missile dominance…over the skies of the occupied territories’ and warned its ‘new tactics and launch systems’ would leave the US and Israel ‘astonished’. 

Diego Garcia lies around 3,800km (2,360 miles) from Iran – undermining the regime’s previous assertion that its ballistic missiles could only reach 2,000 km (1,240 miles). 

Analysts believe Tehran used intermediate range ballistic missiles – or even used a space launch vehicle to enable the weapons to reach Diego Garcia.

Iran’s Simorgh space launch vehicle, for example, could offer greater range ‘at the likely cost of terminal accuracy’, said Justin Bronk, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a defence think-tank.

Steve Prest, a retired Royal Navy commodore, added: ‘Ballistic missiles are space rockets. They launch, they go really high up and they come down really fast. If you’ve got a space programme, you’ve got a ballistic missile programme.’

The strike on Diego Garcia took place just seven days after Israeli forces struck Iran’s main space research centre in Tehran, amid fears it was being used to ‘develop satellite attack capabilities in space’.

Experts have warned that if Iran has greater military prowess, the missile threat could now extend well beyond the Middle East and within distance of most capital cities in Western Europe.

This includes Paris, which is 4,198km (2,609 miles) from Tehran, while London lies on the ‘edge of vulnerability’ at around 4,435km (2,750 miles).

The unnerving analysis comes as General Sir Richard Barrons, who headed the UK’s Joint Forces Command between 2013 and 2016, said Iran’s power may have been ‘serially underestimated’.

The former forces chief was responding to questions over whether Trump was right to say the UK had done ‘too little and too late’ or whether opponents of the war were correct that the UK had been sucked into an American war.

He added: ‘Both could be true. War generally does not follow a script and the enemy always gets a vote and, in this case, the enemy’s vote, Iran, has been serially underestimated.

‘We are where we are – this conflict and the way it has turned out now puts British interests and those of our allies at risk and ignoring it completely is no longer appropriate even if the decisions at the start of the conflict were very different.

‘Iran and the UK have been at odds for a very long time. The Iranian regime regards the UK as an enemy and so if you are seen to participate in some fashion with this US-Israeli offensive action then they are clearly going to respond and we should not be surprised.’

General Sir Richard said the UK was helping the US to ‘apply military force’, adding: ‘We have obligations to them and we may not have thought this was a good idea at the start and we may not have wanted to get involved but now in the way this has turned out, we are involved.’

Asked about the US President’s apparently contradictory comments last night about possibly ending the war or considering the use of ground troops, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that there had been a ‘mismatch’ between ‘the objectives you would like to achieve and the means you are prepared to apply to it’.

He added: ‘They [US and Israel] have got to choose between now announcing victory or stopping or if those objectives really matter to them, they are going to have to escalate it because you can’t do much more with air power so you are beginning to talk about potentially using troops.’

Doubting there would be a full scale invasion of ‘a country the size of Western Europe’, he said: ‘I don’t think anyone really conceives of an invasion and occupation of Iran but they are going to be tempted perhaps to invade Kharg Island or blockade it or attack the praetorial of the Iranian order to remove the military threat.’

Foreign affairs analyst Nawaf Al-Thani also reacted to the Diego Garcia strikes on social media, saying that a long-held assumption about Iran’s missile capability ‘has just collapsed’. 

He added: ‘For years, the accepted ceiling was around 2,000 kilometres. A ballistic missile reaching Diego Garcia suggests something in the neighbourhood of 4,000 kilometres, which pushes it out of the medium-range category and into the intermediate-range class (IRBM). That is a strategic leap.

‘The real story is not whether the missile was intercepted. It is that Iran may have demonstrated reach far beyond what much of the world believed it possessed. 

‘Paris comes into range. London moves much closer to the edge of vulnerability depending on launch point and payload. 

‘This would mean the missile threat is no longer confined to the Gulf, Israel, or parts of South Asia. It would mean the radius of deterrence, defence, and fear has expanded dramatically. 

‘If confirmed, Diego Garcia was not just a target. It was a message.’

Just hours before the missiles were fired, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned Sir Keir had placed British lives ‘in danger’ by consenting to Trump’s request to use B-52s and other aircraft flying out of RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia to blast Iranian missile sites blocking threatening the Strait of Hormuz. 

Posting on X, he said: ‘Vast majority of the British People do not want any part in the Israel-US war of choice on Iran. 

‘Ignoring his own People, Mr Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran.’ 

Friday night’s action comes at the start of the third week of the conflict and coincides with a strike by US and Israeli forces against the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility on Saturday. No radioactive leaks occurred and residents near the site were not at risk, Tasnim news agency reported.

Joint forces also struck an ammunition airbase in the western Iranian city of Dezful, in Khuzestan province, as Israel pledged that attacks on Iran would ‘significantly increase’ in the coming days.

The US meanwhile reported that it has hit more than 8,000 military targets since the conflict began.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman today described Iran’s actions against the military base as a ‘threat’ to UK interests.

They said: ‘Iran’s reckless attacks, lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies.

‘RAF jets and other UK military assets are continuing to defend our people and personnel in the region. This Government has given permission to the US to use British bases for specific and limited defensive operations.’

The Government has not however confirmed the precise timing of the strike, with Ms Badenoch urging Sir Keir to ‘come clean’ over the details. 

The Conservative leader told The Telegraph: ‘Keir Starmer has dithered and delayed on the Iran conflict from the outset.

‘Now we find out, from the media and not the Prime Minister, that the British base on Diego Garcia has been the target of Iranian missile attacks.

‘The Prime Minister needs to immediately come clean about the details of this latest attack on British troops and explain why the public weren’t informed sooner.’

Diego Garcia is strategically valuable to the US, having been used as a launchpad for operations in the Middle East for years. It has a large airfield, major fuel storage facilities, radar installations and a deep-water port. 

Prior to Iran’s strike against the base, Trump had told reporters on Friday that the US was considering ‘winding down’ military action.

The president added in his remarks that the US military was ‘getting very close’ to meeting its objectives in the war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected the comments last month and claimed that Iran was ‘certainly trying to achieve intercontinental ballistic missiles’, adding that Tehran’s nuclear capabilities were ‘headed in the pathway to one day being able to develop weapons that can reach the continental US’.

Trump blasted the UK Government while speaking to reporters outside the White House on Friday, accusing British leadership of a slow response to allow the US to use their bases.

‘It’s been a very late response from the UK. I’m surprised because the relationship is so good, but this has never happened before,’ he said.

Trump said that the UK initially did not want to allow the US to use its island for the Diego Garcia base.

Sir Keir had previously only allowed British bases to be used by the US when targeting Iranian missile launchers attacking the UK and its allies, and not for defending traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Prime Minister has stood firm that the country would not be dragged into the war in Iran.

‘We will protect our people in the region,’ Sir Keir told Parliament earlier this week.

‘We will take action to defend ourselves and our allies, and we will not be drawn into the wider war.’

The US and Israel have maintained that the main motivation for military action in Iran is to prevent the development of a nuclear weapon.

The Trump administration has projected confidence since the initial strikes, with the president declaring on Friday that he thinks ‘we’ve won’.

He added that he did not want to negotiate a ceasefire because the US was ‘literally obliterating the other side’.

Trump then accused Iran of ‘clogging up’ the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway on the north coast through which about a fifth of the world’s oil passes.

‘The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not! If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated,’ Trump later wrote on Truth Social.

The president called out allies within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) as ‘cowards’ for ‘complaining’ about high oil prices while refusing to lend military support to the US.

Iran’s strikes against Diego Garcia come as fears grew over the impact of the ‘Trumpflation’ spike in oil and gas prices that has been triggered by the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran.

Brits were urged on Friday to consider working from home and use air fryers instead of ovens to reduce demand for energy, as the Cabinet ‘condemned Iran’s expansion of its targets to include international shipping’, a No10 spokeswoman said.

‘They agreed that Iran’s reckless strikes, including on Red Ensign vessels and those of our close allies and Gulf partners, risked pushing the region further into crisis and worsening the economic impact being felt in the UK and around the world,’ they added.

‘They confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.’

A fifth of global oil supplies are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively shut since the start of the war.

That has steadily pushed oil prices higher, before a sharp rise on Thursday to nearly $118 after Iran threatened ‘full-scale economic war’ before striking Qatar’s main liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, which suffered ‘extensive further damage’.

The chief executive of QatarEnergy said the attacks on gas facilities would take between three and five years to repair.

Drivers have already been feeling the effects at UK pumps, and experts estimate that energy bills could go up by more than a fifth when the cap next changes in July.

Military experts have warned that Iran could soon have the capability to strike European capitals, after it launched long-range missiles at a key UK-US military base thousands of miles away.

Last night, Tehran launched two ballistic missiles towards the strategically important base on Diego Garcia, a jointly owned base in the Chagos Islands 2,360 miles from Iran.

Neither missile hit its target in the attack, which was condemned by the Ministry of defence as ‘reckless’ and a ‘threat to British interests and British allies’.

One is believed to have malfunctioned during flight, while the other was intercepted by an American warship before impact.

The attempted strike suggests advances in range that could eventually bring parts of Europe within reach.

The Daily Mail reported that Iran could have used intermediate range ballistic missiles or a space launch vehicle to boost range.

Steve Prest, a retired Royal Navy commodore, told the Daily Mail: ‘Ballistic missiles are space rockets. They launch, they go really high up and they come down really fast. If you’ve got a space program, you’ve got a ballistic missile program.’

The attack on Diego Garcia happened a week after Israeli forces carried out a strike on Iran’s primary space research facility in Tehran, amid concerns it was being used to develop technology capable of targeting satellites in orbit.

Foreign affairs analyst Nawaf Al-Thani said missile threat is ‘no longer confined to the Gulf, Israel or parts of South Asia’, and key European capitals such as Paris would be in the included range. London is in the ‘edge of vulnerability’.

He said in a post on X: ‘For years, the accepted ceiling was around 2,000 kilometres. A ballistic missile reaching Diego Garcia suggests something in the neighbourhood of 4,000 kilometres, which pushes it out of the medium-range category and into the intermediate-range class (IRBM). That is a strategic leap.

‘If confirmed, Diego Garcia was not just a target. It was a message.’

The strike comes just days after an Iranian missile hit a military base in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to US, UK and Australian troops.

Explosions were heard near the military base, which is used by Western nations as a transit hub within the region.

Meanwhile, Iran has said it will continue to stop shipping traffic from US and allied ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which is used to transport a fifth of the world’s oil supplies.

Brits were encouraged on Friday to work from home and use air fryers instead of ovens to lessen demand for energy.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Former FBI chief Robert Mueller who investigated Trump’s ties to Russia dies aged 81

MORE: Map shows where Iran war protest will take place in London today

MORE: Iran fires missiles at UK-US base Diego Garcia after warning ‘British lives are in danger’

Comments


Add as preferred source

By DAN WOODLAND, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 13:40 EDT, 21 March 2026 | Updated: 14:08 EDT, 21 March 2026

A mum from Kent was given anti-psychotic medication and was called ‘crazy’ after insisting she was sure that someone secretly lived in her loft.

Chloe, 31, from Gravesend, faced something out of a horror film – having a stranger secretly live within the safety of your home.

But she was accused of hallucinating and being ‘crazy’ after she insisted someone was secretly living above her flat for months before the police made a chilling discovery.

The mum, who lived in the top-floor apartment in her 20s at the time, noticed the hatch to the loft was mysteriously open one day.

She thought it was ‘strange’ but carried on with her day until later in the evening she thought ‘there’s someone there, they’re looking at me.’

Sharing her bizarre experience on TikTok, Chloe said: ‘I rang my friend who lived below me in the flats and told her there’s someone in my flat.’

‘No one would believe me,’ she said, adding that when ‘I’m laying in bed that evening, I’m hearing footsteps and someone up there.

After another round of ringing friends, she was told again that it was ‘all the voices in your head.’

She kept going on about it to her friends and even mentioned it to a neighbour despite being ‘shut down’ repeatedly.

Eventually, her friends ‘decided that I was going through a psychotic episode,’ and she agreed to go and speak to a doctor, who prescribed her anti-psychotic medicine, which made her feel like ‘a zombie.’

After two months, she experienced the shock of her life when ‘this person is opening the latch blatantly in front of my eyes one night and staring at me.’ She ran out of the flat, and ended up ringing the police, who arrived to inspect the loft.

Chloe said: ‘There was someone there. He was living there and he had loads of bags and backpacks, and he came down.

‘And at this point, all my friends and neighbours from the other flats thought “oh my God, it’s actually true”.’

Follow Metro on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news

Metro’s on Whatsapp! Join our community for breaking news and juicy stories.

The mysterious stranger turned out to be a friend of his neighbour’s, who she believes was homeless.

‘He put him there and was giving him food, and that’s why he was talking down to everyone saying “I can’t hear anything,” and he knew there was someone there,’ Chloe added.

Although her friends refused to believe her, she said she ‘doesn’t blame anyone in my life then,’ and that she was dealing with PTSD and mental health issues at the time.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Meningitis cases rise to 34 while queues for vaccinations build up

MORE: BA passengers fly for 13 hours with a dead body on board

MORE: What I Rent: I moved from Belgium to a Margate one-bed at £850 a month

Comments


Add as preferred source

News Updates

Stay on top of the headlines with daily email updates.

Thousands of protesters will descend on central London this weekend for several demonstrations linked to the ongoing war in Iran.

The biggest event is expected to be a Stop the War demonstration against the US and Israeli strikes later today.

Crowds of demonstrators will march from Russell Square near the British Museum to Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, where speeches will take place.

The Met said the assembly in Richmond Terrace must finish at 6pm and any speeches and amplified music must stop at 5.30pm.

Meanwhile, a separate Stage for Freedom demonstration against the Iranian government will march from Hyde Park Corner in Knightsbridge to the Iranian embassy near Hyde Park.

The force said the assembly at the embassy must conclude at 5pm.

Scotland Yard has imposed strict conditions on the demonstrations.

It has banned the use of amplified sound equipment for music or speech, or any other item to create noise, including musical instruments, sound‑emitting devices, or items struck or banged together.

Superintendent Neil Holyoak, who is in charge of policing London this weekend, said: ‘Officers will be on duty this weekend to police these events and ensure they pass off safely and peacefully.

‘As always, we will not hesitate to act if we see criminality.

‘We have imposed conditions, chiefly to minimise noise and disruption to local residents based on extensive feedback.

‘Those who refuse to comply with the conditions risk being arrested.

‘We will also not tolerate people setting off fireworks which we have seen in recent weeks.

‘Please ensure if you are planning to attend this weekend’s events you act within the law and respect surrounding residents and businesses.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Ore Oduba tearfully reveals heartbreaking reason he’s running the London Marathon

MORE: London’s A40 is closed for a month – here’s the impact it will have

MORE: Iran fires missiles at UK-US base Diego Garcia after warning ‘British lives are in danger’

Comments


Add as preferred source

Ronnie O’Sullivan through to 66th ranking final and a chance for a record-extending 42nd ranking title after battling back from 43-0 down in the decider to Wu Yize before pulling out a sensational clearance

Ronnie O’Sullivan made it through to the World Open final after clinching a deciding-frame thriller against Wu Yize.

With O’Sullivan and Wu locked at 5-5 in the race to six frames, ‘The Rocket’ produced a wonderful 89 counter-clearance from 43-0 down to seal a dramatic 6-5 victory.

The seven-time world champion is through to a 66th ranking final and now has a chance to win a record-extending 42nd ranking title in Sunday’s final against Judd Trump or Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.

On Friday, O’Sullivan made the highest break in professional snooker by hitting a 153 at the tournament.

The 50-year-old achieved the feat after leaving quarter-final opponent Ryan Day in a snooker at the start of the opening frame and the Welshman’s failed attempt to get out of it handed O’Sullivan a free ball.

That allowed the seven-time world champion to commence his break with the green, followed by his opening black to put him on eight points before even beginning on the reds.

O’Sullivan then reeled off the 15 reds, accompanied by 13 further blacks and two pinks before clearing up the colours to land a record-breaking 153, paving the way for a dominant 5-0 victory.

O’Sullivan’s route to World Open final

• Round one: Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 Ross Muir
• Round two: Ishpreet Singh Chadha 0-5 Ronnie O’Sullivan (bye)
• Round three: Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Matthew Selt
• Round four: Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-3 Shaun Murphy
• Quarter-final: Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Ryan Day
• Semi-final: Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-5 Wu Yize

Iran fired missiles towards the UK’s Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, US officials have said.

Two intermediate-range ballistic missiles were fired at Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands but neither hit, the Wall Street Journal and the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr reported.

One of the missiles was shot down by a US warship, while the other failed in flight, the newspaper said, citing multiple officials.

Ministers gave the US permission to strike Iranian missile sites targeting the Strait of Hormuz from UK bases including Diego Garcia on Friday afternoon.

Iran reacted angrily, with foreign minister Abbas Araghchi claiming it will ‘exercise its right to self-defence’.

Posting on X, he said: ‘Vast majority of the British People do not want any part in the Israel-US war of choice on Iran.

Ignoring his own People, Mr Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran.

‘Iran will exercise its right to self-defence.’

Where is Diego Garcia military base?

Diego Garcia is around 2,360 miles away from Iran and home to an airbase capable of accommodating long-range US bombers.

The UK has agreed to cede sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius and lease back the base.

Diego Garcia is strategically valuable to the US, and has been used as a launchpad for operations in the Middle East for years.

It has a large airfield, major fuel storage facilities, radar installations and a deep-water port.

UK ‘should have acted a lot faster’

US President Donald Trump said the UK ‘should have acted a lot faster’ in giving the US permission.

He has already piled pressure on Nato allies, calling them ‘cowards’ for refusing to offer warships to reopen the Strait.

The Government had previously granted the US permission only for ‘defensive’ action.

When that decision was made, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was hit by an Iranian drone.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described Sir Keir’s latest move as the ‘mother of all U-turns’ in a post on X.

The Liberal Democrats and the Green Party said granting further permission for the US to use British bases must first have a parliamentary vote.

The Prime Minister will hold a Cobra meeting next week to discuss plans to help households with the cost of living caused by the war, it is understood.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Donald Trump considers ‘winding down’ Iran war without securing Strait of Hormuz

MORE: Donald Trump says UK ‘should have acted faster’ after it allows US to use bases

MORE: Brits told to ‘carry on as normal’ after work from home warnings

Comments


Add as preferred source