NATO fighter jets were scrambled today after Russian military aircraft approached allied airspace, in the latest sign of rising tension on Europe’s northern flank.

According to defence sources, the aircraft were detected flying close to NATO-controlled airspace over the North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea, prompting a rapid response from alliance air policing forces. Fighter jets were launched to identify and monitor the Russian planes, which did not file flight plans or communicate with civilian air traffic control.

The incident follows a familiar pattern seen repeatedly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Moscow increasing long-range bomber and reconnaissance flights close to NATO territory. While the Russian aircraft did not enter sovereign airspace, officials said the response was a routine but necessary defensive measure.

NATO confirmed that the scramble was carried out to “ensure the integrity of allied airspace” and that the situation was closely monitored throughout.

Pembrokeshire link to wider security concerns

The latest aerial incident comes against the backdrop of earlier Russian surveillance activity much closer to home, including off the Pembrokeshire coast.

During the summer, a Russian intelligence-gathering vessel was tracked operating off south-west Wales, raising concerns about undersea infrastructure and maritime security. The ship, identified by defence analysts as the Yantar, is officially classed as an oceanographic research vessel but is widely regarded by NATO as a spy ship used to map seabeds and monitor communications cables.

At the time, Royal Navy and RAF assets were deployed to shadow the vessel as it loitered in international waters near Pembrokeshire, an area through which critical transatlantic data cables pass. Defence officials said the ship’s movements were consistent with intelligence-gathering activity rather than civilian research.

Local marine observers and coastal monitoring groups also reported unusual naval and aerial activity in the area during the period, highlighting how global security tensions were playing out on Wales’ doorstep.

Further sightings off Scotland

In recent weeks, the same Russian vessel has again been detected further north, operating off the coast of Scotland, where it was monitored by Royal Navy ships and RAF maritime patrol aircraft.

The Ministry of Defence has since confirmed that UK forces have increased surveillance around the British Isles in response to sustained Russian naval and air activity. Officials have warned that undersea cables, pipelines and offshore energy infrastructure are increasingly viewed as potential targets in modern hybrid warfare.

Today’s NATO jet scramble is understood to be part of this broader defensive posture, with alliance forces on heightened alert as Russian military movements continue near European airspace and waters.

While no immediate threat to the UK has been identified, defence sources have made clear that both air and maritime activity are being treated as connected elements of a wider pattern.

ANGLE RNLI lifeboat crew were called out on Christmas Eve for the one-hundredth time this year after reports of red flares in the Lawrenny area.

In what has been described as a record-breaking year for the station, the crew were paged at 7:03pm to investigate multiple reports of flares being seen.

Alongside Dale Coastguard Rescue Team, the lifeboat carried out a thorough search of the water between the Cleddau Bridge and Lawrenny.

After an extensive sweep of the area, nothing was found and the incident was believed to be a false alarm with good intent. The lifeboat was stood down and returned safely to her berth by 9:00pm.

Marking a milestone moment for the crew, the Christmas Eve call-out underlined just how busy 2025 has been for Angle RNLI.

The station also took the opportunity to thank Milford Haven Coastguard for their “excellent coordination and cooperation” throughout the year, praising the teamwork that supports lifesaving operations across the Haven.

RESPONDING to news the inheritance tax threshold will be raised to £2.5m, after a long-fought campaign by the Union, NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said: “ Over the past 14 months NFU Cymru, and its members, have been tireless in their efforts to amend the proposals, culminating in the ‘NO IHT’ mosaic display at the Winter Fair on the eve of this year’s budget.

“Today’s announcement, which sees the tax threshold raised from £1m to £2.5m, is a major development which will take many Welsh family farms above the threshold for Inheritance tax and will greatly reduce the tax burden for others. The change announced today, alongside the announcement by the Chancellor in last month’s budget to allow spousal transfer will mean that for many up to £5m in qualifying agricultural or business assets will be able to be passed on to the next generation before paying inheritance tax.

“When it became clear that we weren’t going to get rid of the proposals announced in the October 2024 budget NFU Cymru, alongside our colleagues in the NFU, NFU Scotland and Ulster Farmers Union, have left no stone unturned in lobbying for changes that would mitigate the worst elements of the original proposals.  Today’s announcement alongside the changes in the November budget will be very welcome news to many Welsh family farms, coming as it does just before Christmas, a time when families come together.”   

“I’d like to thank all our NFU Cymru members for their diligent and consistent lobbying of MPs, often having to share tragic and upsetting deeply personal stories with politicians and the media. I would like to thank the supply chain who stood by us throughout, recognising the damage that the original proposals would have caused not just to family farms but to rural Wales. The public have also been fantastic, with so many of them making up the 270,000 signatures I delivered to No 10 as part of the Stop the Family Farm Tax Petition earlier this year.

“We must also recognise the Welsh Labour MPs who were willing to meet with us and hear first-hand the human impact the original proposals would have had on farming families, who have stood up for their constituents and backed Welsh farming and rural Wales, and who in recent weeks demonstrated their support for our campaign by abstaining from the Budget Resolution 50.  We owe our gratitude to them for helping the UK Government make the changes needed.”

“Our thanks go to both the Westminster Welsh Affairs Committee and the EFRA Committee for their reports and recommendations on this matter and also the support of all the opposition parties.”  

“As a Union we have met with the Prime Minister, the DEFRA Secretary of State and the Welsh Office. I’d like to thank the UK Government for recognising that the original proposals would have caused untold damage to Welsh and British farming and for making the changes they have, which are very much welcomed and will make a significant difference to family farms the length and breadth of the Country.”