What would happen in the first few days of nuclear attack

The terrifying reality of what would be left after a nuclear attack has been detailed amid growing fears around WW3.

With its ongoing war in Ukraine, Russia could spell further trouble for Europe and other Western nations as it conducted large-scale military exercises last week, in a similar fashion to the military drills preceding its invasion of Ukraine.

In a move that has alarmed nearby NATO member states, the Kremlin's drills featured a simulated nuclear strike, as well as the use of drones and robotic systems.

In recent weeks, Polish and Romanian airspaces saw alleged Russian drones launched, as well as airports in Norway and Denmark closing their runways due to suspicious drone activity.

British home secretary Yvette Cooper also warned on Monday that British jets were looking to 'confront' Russian planes violating NATO airspace following their drone activity.

If a Russia-NATO nuclear war breaks out, the aftermath would be catastrophic, especially given the evolution of nuclear weapons since the previous times they were used, both in Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan.

And it's left people wondering exactly what the aftermath would be of such an attack.

Russia violated NATO airspace earlier this month ( ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Immediate effects of nuclear attack

According to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, if a nuclear bomb was detonated, the heart of the nuclear explosion would reach a temperature of several million degrees centigrade.

This means the resulting heat flash would literally vaporise all human tissue over a wide area.

"People inside buildings or otherwise shielded would be killed by the blast and heat effects as buildings collapse and all inflammable material bursts into flame," the organisation states.

Chillingly, it warns that 'the immediate death rate would be over 90 percent'.

It continues: "Individual fires will combine to produce a firestorm as all the oxygen is consumed. As the heat rises, air is drawn in from the periphery at or near ground level. This would result in lethal, hurricane-force winds, and the fire would be perpetuated as the fresh oxygen is burnt."

And while some might shelter underground, they will still not be immune to the effects even if they survive the initial heat flash, as the oxygen would be sucked out of the atmosphere.

The effects would be devastating (Anton Petrus/Getty stock photo)

Short-term effects of nuclear attack

Even those who are not in the immediate destruction zone would see huge loss, including fatal burns, being blinded, bleeding from glass splinters, and suffering massive internal injuries. Many would also be trapped in collapsed and burning buildings.

"The death rate would be higher than in a normal disaster since most emergency services would be incapable of responding due to their equipment being destroyed and staff killed.

"The sheer scale of the casualties would overwhelm any country’s medical resources. The International Red Cross has concluded that the use of a single nuclear weapon in or near a populated area is likely to result in a humanitarian disaster that will be 'difficult to address'."

As seen in the nuclear power explosions of Chernobyl, which saw radioactive rain fall over the next few days in a wide arc across Northern Europe, the effects of nuclear war would be felt for some time and cover long distances.

The impact of exposure to high levels of radioactive fallout includes hair loss, bleeding from the mouth and gums, internal bleeding, gangrenous ulcers, vomiting and fever.

There is no effective treatment, and death would likely follow in a matter of days.

Long-term survivors may end up developing cancer (Visoot Uthairam/Getty stock photo)

Longer-term effects of nuclear attack

At lower levels of exposure, there is a higher chance of short-term survival, but the death rate remains high and healing would be slow if anyone does manage to survive.

For long-term survivors, radiation-induced cancer is likely to occur, often over twenty years later.