Putin came so close to launching a nuke in Ukraine that crisis meetings were held over the fallout hitting BRITAIN

VLADIMIR Putin was so close to letting off a nuke in October 2022 that crisis meetings were held over the fallout hitting Britain.

Ex-PM Liz Truss spent her final days in office studying weather maps and preparing for UK radiation cases after American spies feared the Kremlin tyrant was hours from pressing the button.

AP

Vladimir Putin came so close to launching a nuke in October 2022 that crisis meetings were held over potential fallout reaching Britain[/caption]

An updated book claims former PM Liz Truss spent ‘numerous hours studying satellite weather data and wind directions’Getty

Reports claim the White House believed there was a 50 per cent chance Putin would use a battlefield nuclear weapon in UkraineAFP

Whitehall disaster planners feared radioactive material hurled into the atmosphere could have travelled the 1,700 miles across Europe from any blast zone.

Based on “exquisite” intelligence, the US concluded there was a 50 per cent chance Russia could deploy a tactical nuke on the Ukrainian battlefields or test a larger bomb over the Black Sea.

The horrifying details of how close the war came to a massive escalation are revealed in Out Of The Blue, an updated biography of the short-lived PM.

It reports Ms Truss spent “numerous hours studying satellite weather data and wind directions” over fears the “wrong weather patterns” could have a “direct fall-out effect on Britain”.

 Separately, a new book, War, by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward also reports the White House believed there was a 50 per cent chance Russia would use a battlefield weapon based on “exquisite” human intelligence received in autumn 2022.

Then UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace dashed to Washington on October 18 that year to discuss the crisis.

‘Direct threat’

Security sources told The Sun at the time that the threat had dramatically increased.

That month, President Joe Biden said for first time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, there was a “direct threat” of nuclear weapons being deployed by Russia “if, in fact, things continue down the path they are going”.

The revelation comes as ministers scramble to play down fears Donald Trump would abandon Ukraine when he returns to the White House in January.

 Defence Secretary John Healey said he expected the President-Elect to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes to prevail”.

And speaking in Paris yesterday, PM Sir Keir Starmer said Britain would “support President Zelensky for as long as it takes”.

But Mr Trump’s son Don Jnr stoked fears for Ukraine by sharing a video mocking President Zelensky. He sneered Zelensky’s “allowance” was about to run out.

Trump Snr was reported to have spoken to Putin the following day, warning him not to escalate the 32-month conflict.

But a Kremlin spokesman branded the reports “pure fiction”.