Britain has cut its national terror threat level from critical to severe for the first time since the attempted car bomb attacks on London and Glasgow Airport.
"Today the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre changed the national Threat Level from Critical to Severe. There is no intelligence to suggest that an attack is expected imminently," Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said in a statement.
But Ms Smith underlined that the review did not mean the overall threat had disappeared and urged the public to remain vigilant.
"There remains a serious and real threat against the United Kingdom and I would again ask that the public remain vigilant."
Assessments of the level and nature of threat are made by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) while the threat from domestic terrorism is assessed by the Security Service (MI5).
The level is a shorthand description of the overall threat, either for Britain as a whole or for specific sectors such as government or military facilities. A severe threat level means an attack is highly likely, compared with critical, which indicates an attack is expected imminently.
Since the level was first published on August 1st, 2006 it has hit "critical" twice.
The first time was on August 10th, 2006 after a suspected plot to blow up airliners leaving London was uncovered. It was cut to "severe" on August 14th.
The second was on June 30th this year after suspected Islamist militants rammed a fuel-laden SUV into a Scottish airport and left two car bombs in London. Prior to August 2006 the government had a different system with seven levels and did not make the threat level public.
Agencies