Great Britain Changes Threat Level To Severe, Says Terrorist Attack 'Highly Likely'

Great Britain changed its threat level from substantial to severe this week, indicating that a terrorist attack is "highly likely."

Home Secretary Theresa May said at a press conference Friday that the country chose to raise the threat level due to the current unstable situation in Syria and Iraq, saying that although the risk of attack is "highly likely," it is not necessarily "imminent."

"The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre [JTAC] is responsible for setting the national threat level. That informs the decisions of security professionals across the public and private sectors about the appropriate level of security in place across the United Kingdom," May told reporters. "JTAC's judgments about that threat level are made on the basis of the very latest intelligence and are independent of ministers."

"JTAC has today raised the threat level to the UK from international terrorism from SUBSTANTIAL to SEVERE. That means that a terrorist attack is highly likely, but there is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is imminent.," the home secretary added.

Great Britain's intelligence agency has been working to identify a British national who recently spoke in a YouTube video that showed the beheading of American journalist James Foley. Government officials indicated that although a young Britain's participation in the video is disappointing, it is not necessarily surprising, and there has been an uptick in the amount of young British Islamic people who have traveled to the Middle East to become aspiring terrorists.

The European country is encouraging its residents to watch for suspicious activity and report anyone who could be working with a terrorist organization to plot an attack.