Britain’s official threat level for international terrorism was lowered Wednesday to “substantial,” meaning an attack is likely, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya.
It previously stood at “severe,” signaling that UK intelligence officials considered an attack highly likely.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said that “any reduction in the threat level is positive but it must never make us complacent.”
She said the threat from terrorism in the UK was “complex, volatile, and unpredictable.”
The threat level was raised to severe, the second-highest rung on a five-point scale, in November after an Iraq-born man blew himself up with a homemade bomb outside a hospital in Liverpool.
The suspected bombmaker, Emad Al Swealmeen, died when the device went off inside a taxi. The driver was injured.