THE Prime Minister is telling British nationals to leave Lebanon 'immediately'.

However, Brits still in Lebanon are facing struggles to leave the country with airlines suspending flights to the country due to violence.

To help Brits leaving the country, the Royal Air Force has planes and transport helicopters on standby to provide support if necessary.

The UK is sending around 700 troops to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation of Lebanon is required as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues to escalate.

The deployment to Cyprus comes as the government begins the first stage of its contingency plan, with the military team supported by Border Force and Foreign Office officials.

Brits told to leave Lebanon

Discussing the deployment of British troops, Defence Secretary John Healey said: "Events in the past hours and days have demonstrated how volatile this situation is, which is why our message is clear, British nationals should leave now.

“We continue to urge all sides to step back from conflict to prevent further tragic loss of life.

“Our Government is ensuring all preparations are in place to support British nationals should the situation deteriorate.

“I want to thank the British personnel who are deploying in the region for their commitment and professionalism.”

The UK already has a significant diplomatic and military presence in the area, including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and British ships RFA Mounts Bay and HMS Duncan.

Sir Keir Starmer told reporters travelling on his plane to the UN General Assembly in New York: “The most important message from me this evening is to British nationals in Lebanon, to leave immediately and I just want to reinforce that.

“Yes, we are ramping up the contingency plans, I think that you would expect that in light of the escalation.

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“But it is important that we be really, really clear: now is the time to leave.

“More broadly, I am worried about the situation and I think we need to be clear we need de-escalation, we need a ceasefire, we need to pull back from the brink.

“I think that will be amongst the first topics we discuss in New York.”