Liz Truss spent final days as PM 'obsessed with weather amid Putin's nuclear threats'

Liz Truss became the shortest serving Prime Minister in British history but her final few days allegedly saw her focus on the weather as she feared of nuclear attack from Russia

Liz Truss spent her final days of her historically ill-fated tenure as British Prime Minister "obsessed" with the weather forecast after Russia threatened the use of a nuclear weapon over the Black Sea.

Truss, who was elected as the Conservative Party leader on September 5 and became Boris Johnson's successor at 10 Downing Street, lasted just 44 days in office as she became the shortest serving Prime Minister in British history.

It has been reported that towards the end of her premiership, Truss had been worried about nuclear threats made by Russia as the war in Ukraine continues to rage on, and her fears grew that fallout would hit UK with raditation being blown in our direction.

Truss was allegedly told Vladimir Putin might use a nuclear weapon over the Black Sea to flex his muscles to the West to show what the Kremlin is capable of without triggering a full-scale war.

A source told the The Mail : "Liz was obsessed with the prevailing wind, watching the forecasts to see if she needed to trigger a Protect and Survive plan."

Protect and Survive was a public information campaign on civil defence which was produced by the UK Government between 1974 and 1980, intending to advise the public on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack.

The Mail on Sunday added Truss' personal phone was 'hacked' by agents thought to be working for the Kremlin downloaded a year’s worth of messages and top secret discussions with international allies.

It’s claimed the messages that were downloaded included discussions with international allies regarding the war in Ukraine, including detailed information about arms shipments.

The source added: "Liz was terrified that news about her phone being hacked would come out because it looked almost symbolic of national weakness.

"Then, as her government was collapsing, she had to worry about nuclear clouds as well. We found her watching the weather forecasts with unusual interest."

Truss' intrigue for weather forecasts worked its way back from the Chernobyl accident in 1986, where radiation posed a threat to Europe if the wind blew in our direction.

Nuclear cloud-mapping experts share information between countries about the direction of radiation, with radiation-detecting equipment dotted around the continent in the event of a nuclear weapon being used.

Putin has previously warned in a televised speech that he "will certainly use all the means at our disposal" if the West "endangered" Russian territory and insisted that "this is not a bluff".

Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky is believed to have been told by intelligence agents of a "very high" risk of the use of nuclear weapons by the Kremlin.

It is also reported that Home Office officials are pushing for the latest technology for detecting radiation levels, which is thought to be funded by a Spending Review commitment in November 2020 and not in relation to the war in Ukraine.

Truss resigned on October 20 after weeks of turmoil and furious backbench MPs expressing no confidence, with Rishi Sunak, who she pipped in the Conservative Party leadership election this summer, voted in by Tory members earlier this week.