The government is worried about the impact of unforseen issues, a report warns

A no-deal Brexit could quickly overwhelm Whitehall, the government has admitted in papers leaked to The Times.

A document drawn up as part of a contingency plan, codenamed Operation Yellowhammer, also says the government might have to go on emergency round-the-clock footing for months after a hard Brexit.

The immediate priorities in the event of no deal will be “welfare, health, transport and security of UK citizens at home and abroad, and the economic stability of the UK”, the document says.

It is a 37-page guide to working in the Department for Transport 24/7 operations centre. “The scale of the operation is potentially enormous. If there is no deal, the impacts could be felt [and] could fall across every transport mode [and possibly each