Officials are understood to be preparing emergency measures for the potential evacuation of more than 100,000 UK nationals from the Middle East region.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper disclosed that 102,000 British citizens have registered their current locations in the affected area.

She indicated that approximately 300,000 UK nationals are situated in Gulf states that have come under attack from Iran.

British nationals have been advised to follow instructions from regional authorities and to monitor updates from the Foreign Office regarding travel advisories, with officials expecting these to be revised regularly.

Those presently in Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have been urged to register their presence via the Foreign Office digital platform.

The government has previously employed this registration system to communicate urgent alerts to those affected by international crises, though it has never previously needed to support such substantial numbers spread across numerous separate countries.

Ms Cooper told BBC Breakfast that the latest figure available that morning indicated 102,000 individuals had responded to the registration request, enabling officials to monitor their positions, particularly within the targeted Gulf nations, and guaranteeing they could receive prompt updates.

In multiple countries the airspace is currently closed because of the Iranian attacks.

This is naturally highly distressing given the situation – these include numerous holidaymakers, individuals simply passing through or business travellers whom authorities wish to help return home safely.

A substantial volume of commercial air services across the Middle East have been halted since the attacks began on Saturday.

Almost half of the departures scheduled from London Heathrow to the region on Sunday were cancelled.

Analytics company Cirium indicated that 24 of the 56 services from Britain’s busiest airport were removed.

British Airways confirmed it is observing the situation carefully and has paused a number of its Middle East routes.

Virgin Atlantic cancelled two inbound Heathrow flights on Monday – one originating from Dubai, UAE and another from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – while further services were rerouted.

Qatar Airways stated early on Monday that all of its flights remain suspended.