A Day That Shook The World: Britain explodes its first atomic bomb

On 3 October 1952, Britain became the third nuclear power after it successfully tested its own atomic bomb in the Montebello Islands, north of Australia.

The tests produced a ragged cloud of mud, sand and water two-and-a-half-miles high - all captured on a beautifully clear day in the south Pacific.

Watch original footage of the tests and the testers in this British Pathé video, above.