United Kingdom

Is the UK safe to visit?

Yes. Britain has low violent crime, about 1.1 homicides per 100,000Homicide rateThe number of people killed on purpose each year for every 100,000 residents. It is the most comparable crime figure between countries.More in the glossary people in 2021, and its roads are among the safest anywhere. We score it 88. The two caveats: the national terrorism threat level is severe, the second-highest of five, and phone theft in central London is common enough that you should plan around it.

Terrorism: the main reason for Level 2

The US State Department rates the UK Level 2, "exercise increased caution", because of terrorism. Its September 2026 update also notes isolated violence by dissident groups in Northern Ireland, which mainly target police and the military.

GOV.UK lists the national threat level as severe, meaning an attack is highly likely. That level has been used several times since 2005, and attacks do happen: in October 2025 an attacker killed two people at a synagogue in the Heaton Park area of Manchester on Yom Kippur. Most attacks in the last decade have been carried out by individuals with knives or vehicles rather than organised groups.

The practical effect for visitors is small. You will see armed police at major stations, airports and events. If an attack happens nearby, the official advice is Run, Hide, Tell: get away if you can, hide if you cannot, and call 999 when safe.

Phone and bag theft in London

London's crime problem for visitors is theft, not violence. The Metropolitan Police recorded about 71,400 phone thefts in 2025, according to the Mayor of London, down from 81,365 in 2024. About 10,200 were robberies, many by thieves on e-bikes or mopeds who grab phones from pedestrians.

The hotspots are well known: Oxford Street, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Soho, Westminster Bridge and the area around Trafalgar Square. On Westminster Bridge, cup-and-ball gambling games (the shell game) are a scam run by groups who also work as pickpockets. Our London page has more on where and when.

Outside London, theft is lower. Edinburgh in August (festival season) and Manchester city centre on weekend nights are the next most common places for pickpocketing and drunken trouble.

Roads, rail and getting around

WHO estimatedWHO road-death estimateThe World Health Organization's estimate of road traffic deaths per 100,000 people in a country, adjusted for deaths that police statistics miss.More in the glossary 3.2 road deaths per 100,000 people in 2019, a quarter of the US rate. The risk for visitors is mainly on foot: traffic drives on the left, so people from most other countries look the wrong way. On narrow country lanes in the Lake District, Cornwall or the Scottish Highlands, single-track roads with passing places and blind bends need slow speeds and full attention. Drink-driving limits are lower in Scotland than in England and Wales.

Trains are very safe. Strikes and engineering works cause disruption, so check National Rail before travel.

Health and natural hazards

There are no tropical diseases and tap water is safe. Emergency care through the NHS is good, but A&E waits can run for many hours, and overseas visitors admitted to hospital can be charged. For urgent but non-emergency problems, call 111.

Natural hazards are mild: river floods in winter, storms that close coastal roads and ferries, and summer heat waves that the country's housing and transport are not built for. In July 2022 the UK passed 40°C for the first time. Mountain walkers in Snowdonia and the Highlands should take the weather seriously, as conditions change fast and mountain rescue teams are called out often.

How to stay safe in the UK

• Keep your phone away from the kerb and inside a café rather than on the table by the window.
• Use a crossbody bag with a zip in the West End and on the Tube.
• Walk past the shell-game crowds on Westminster Bridge.
• Look right before crossing.
• Save 999 for emergencies and 111 for urgent medical advice.
• On Highland roads, pull into passing places to let faster cars go by rather than speeding up.

How we scored it

Road safety (92), natural hazards (92) and violent crime (91) are strong. The weakest factors are petty crime (75), because of London's phone thefts, and conflict (82), because of the severe terrorism threat. Compare France, which has similar risks with more unrest, and the United States, where violent crime and road deaths are much higher.