World War 3 feels like a persistent threat in 2026 (Image: Anton Petrus via Getty Images)
A new online tool enables Brits to input their postcodes to discover how vulnerable their council area is in the event of a Third World War. Donald Trump may have experienced a damaging midterm loss earlier this week, but the US conflict with Iran is far from concluded; indeed, it may be about to escalate.
Speaking this week, Trump repeated his threats to annihilate the besieged Middle Eastern nation, stating he’d “rather not destroy the rest of the country if possible”, but “maybe I’ll have to”. Tucker Carlson – previously a devoted Trump supporter and now a notable critic – also claimed that Israel had been pressuring the POTUS towards a nuclear strike on Iran, and the administration “may be within days of launching”.
A tool allows Brits to enter their postcodes to see how at risk their council area is (Image: Inspector Walls)
An alarming picture in Europe
Europe, meanwhile, is experiencing sustained hybrid attacks throughout the continent as nations including the UK continue to mobilise support for Ukraine while it withstands ongoing Russian bombardment and drone attacks.
And in October, the UK Government encouraged Britons to stockpile bottled water and food under the Be Ready campaign, while defence secretary Wes Streeting cautioned that the UK has a “little over 1,000 days” to prepare for war.
As concerning as it all appears, there may be some prospect of escaping the worst in the UK – if you avoid 10 particular council areas, especially Gosport.
Identifying the most at-risk postcodes
Serhii Kashevko, the creator behind the Inspector Walls doomsday tool, says his postcode checker, part of Inspector Walls, takes its cue from the UK’s council tax band system and assesses how vulnerable your postcode might be in a theoretical Third World War, drawing on multiple factors.
Gosport is near HM Naval Base Portsmouth (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
He told us exclusively: “It’s a thought experiment, but it’s built on public maps and public data, and it faces a dozen other factors. So when you enter your postcode, it analyses it.
“It looks for the strategic targets nearby, like Ministry of Defence, any targets that we learned in war that had become strategic targets to hit enemies. It also calculates the hills between you and the targets.
“It calculates the wind, the rain, the geographical position of this place. Like, how is the weather? How is the winter? It also looks through the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) data of this particular home”.
For instance, Serhii explains the tool evaluates the distance of a property’s walls and windows to a strategic target, while considering approximately a dozen factors overall.
The town of Gosport (Image: GETTY)
10 most dangerous postcode areas
As shown in the map above, the 10 most dangerous areas are as follows:.
- Gosport (F, 67)
- Portsmouth (F, 65)
- Westminster (F, 65)
- Cheltenham (F, 64)
- Rushmoor, Aldershot and Farnborough (F, 64)
- City of London (F, 63)
- Southwark (F, 62)
- Plymouth (F, 62)
- Islington (F, 62)
- Hammersmith and Fulham (F, 61)
It functions similarly to a property’s EPC rating: the higher the score – and the further up the alphabet the letter – the greater the risk.
Why are they so dangerous?
Serhii suggests their vulnerability stems largely from their closeness to critical military installations. Gosport sits near to HM Naval Base Portsmouth (alongside the Royal Navy’s engineering and air engineering training facility, HMS Sultan), while Cheltenham is home to the Government’s intelligence headquarters, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
London boroughs including Westminster, Southwark, Islington, and Hammersmith and Fulham achieve their elevated ranking owing to their nearness to the UK Government’s administrative centre, Whitehall (with the City of London also in close vicinity).
The Rushmoor district contains Aldershot Barracks, regarded as the “home of the British Army”. Plymouth, meanwhile, hosts HMNB Devonport, Western Europe’s largest naval base.
Safest royal residences
Serhii additionally examined royal properties, determining that William and Kate’s Anmer Hall in Norfolk represents Britain’s safest royal residence, with Sandringham coming second, Clarence House (level with Buckingham Palace), and Highgrove following behind.
He added: “I built this so I wouldn’t rent a flat next to a building site. Things went slightly further than planned, and now it ranks the whole country for the apocalypse.
“It’s a thought experiment built on public data. Not a forecast. If I could forecast the end of the world, I’d be charging for it.”
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