Theresa May (pictured in Downing Street today) is heading to Brussels as final No Deal preparations are activated

The Army has opened a No Deal command post inside the secret Pindar nuclear bunker under Whitehall, it was reported tonight.

It is the latest escalation of No Deal planning just eight days before Britain is due to leave. There is currently no agreed divorce deal.

The emergency Cobra committee took over the No Deal preparations today amid plans to activate 'Operation Yellowhammer' on Monday.

Yellowhammer is the civil contingencies wing of No Deal and involves putting 3,500 troops on standby, booking space on emergency ferries for NHS drugs and preparing for miles of lorry queues out of Dover.

The plans - dubbed a No Deal 'doomsday' scenario - also include Foreign Office teams preparing to help Britons who get stranded in Europe from a dedicated 'nerve centre'.

The troops will be commanded out of the 'Pindar' nuclear bunker under the Ministry of Defence on Whitehall. The military part of the plan is dubbed Operation Redfold, Sky News reported tonight.

Officials have been planning for No Deal for months and activated 320 other contingency plans before Christmas with 101 days to March 29. It included a public information campaign telling citizens to prepare their own families.

The new escalation comes with just eight days until exit is due to happen and with no deal agreed amid deadlock in Parliament.

Cabinet Ministers were told on Tuesday Operation Yellowhammer would be stood up, the Daily Telegraph revealed.

Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, told them in a letter: 'Operation Yellowhammer command and control structures will be enacted fully on 25 March unless a new exit date has been agreed between the UK and the EU.'

He told departments to be ready to make 'necessary changes' to their contingency planning to account for an extension, and be ready to 're-programme' certain measures so that they could instead be activated before the new exit date.

Yellowhammer is the civil contingencies wing of No Deal and involves putting 3,500 troops on standby, booking space on emergency ferries for NHS drugs and preparing for miles of lorry queues out of Dover

Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told Cabinet on Tuesday that Operation Yellowhammer would be stood up on March 25

A Department for Transport source told The Times: 'Clearly if we are facing a no-deal Brexit on Friday there are going to be issues that require a substantial response and we need to ensure that the department is working in a way that allows us to do that ahead of time.

What does yellowhammer mean and how did civil servants come up with the name? Yellowhammer is the code name for the work for planning a no deal Brexit carried out by the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS). It takes its name from a small yellow bird which lives across the UK. They forage for seeds to eat, breed in May and enjoy singing. Male yellowhammers learn their songs from their fathers, and over the course of time regional dialects have developed. In ancient legend the birds were linked to the devil - the intricate patterns on their eggs were said to conceal an evil message. The Yellowhammer operation works across all Whitehall departments to ensure the UK is able to weather the shock of crashing out of the Brussels bloc. The word itself is randomly generated by a computer. The CCS was established in 2011 and works on projects to ensure the UK can handle potentially disruptive change. Projects similar to Yellowhammer have been carried out to prepare for the 2012 Olympics and the Champions League final. Advertisement

'The unknowns are going to be the reaction of other European countries to issues like customs and driving licences. We need to be in a position to respond to issues quickly.'

A government spokesman said: 'As a responsible government we have been planning and continue to prepare for all eventualities and that includes managing the impacts of a no deal Brexit as they arise.'

European Research Group deputy chairman Mark Francois said in the Commons yesterday Operation Yellowhammer shoudl be stood up immediately.

He said: 'If that is so and there is no extension, why do we not just vote down the rancid withdrawal agreement and sprint for the line?'

Chris Heaton-Harris, a Brexit minister, told MPs: 'We do have Operation Yellowhammer, which is working to deliver the biggest peacetime project in the history of the civil service.

'Leaving the European Union with a deal remains the government's top priority, but a responsible government must plan for every eventuality including a no-deal scenario, and these preparations are taking place alongside work to deliver on the government's policy priorities.'

An official report published last month admitted 200,000 firms that trade with the EU are not ready for a no deal Brexit.

The study from the Brexit department also found citizens are ignoring no deal warnings and failing to make sure they are ready for a no deal.

It said no deal would cause delays at the border - potentially meaning shortages and prices rises for some food, particularly fresh produce not in season in Britain.

The report warns panic buying could fuel shortages in foods that are shipped across the Channel.

Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan revealed the No Deal 'nerve centre' that is ready to help stranded UK citizens this week

Labour MP and Best for Britain supporter Rosie Duffield said: 'The only reason this money is being spent on disaster planning rather than our crumbling public services is because the Prime Minister is obsessed with keeping no deal on the table to force through her bad Brexit deal.

'Stopping the coming crisis should be the government's sole agenda, not facilitating it.

'Messes like this explain why the mood in the country has shifted over the last three years.

'No deal is not an acceptable outcome. People want a final say on Brexit, but also expect MPs to think about revoking A50 to stop this government walking us over a cliff-edge if we reach a point of national crisis next week.'

3,500 troops are on standby for no deal Brexit

Extra personnel could be needed at British ports, at the border or even to help police civil disobedience if a no deal Brexit leads to food shortages or other problems

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs last year that 3,500 troops will be 'held at readiness' to help with a no-deal Brexit.

The troops are a mix of regulars and reserves and will be held on bases to be deployed as needed as Britain leaves the EU.

Extra personnel could be needed at British ports, at the border or even to help police civil disobedience if a no deal Brexit leads to food shortages or other problems.

Downing Street insisted the use of soldiers is common - pointing to how troops helped out successfully in the running of the Olympics.

Speaking in the Commons when he made the announcement, Mr Williamson said: 'We've as yet not had any formal request from any Government department but what we are doing is putting contingency plans in place, and what we will do is have 3,500 service personnel held at readiness - including regulars and reserves - in order to support any Government department on any contingencies they may need.'

Up to 10,000 lorries could be parked in Kent if no deal causes delays at the ports

Dover has room for 1,720, Manston Airport near Margate, which has been purchased by the Department for Transport, could fit 4,000 and 4,500 could be parked on the M20 - as happened when 'Operation Stack' was triggered in 2015

More than 10,000 lorries could be parked in Kent to cater for queues of trucks heading for France in event of a no-deal Brexit.

First lorries would be parked at Dover, then on Manston Airport and finally the M20.

Dover has room for 1,720 while Manston Airport near Margate, could fit 6,500 following a series of tests. If they run out of room, more lorries could be parked on the M20 - as happened when 'Operation Stack' was triggered in 2015.

Further contingency plans that emerged in November suggested the 10-mile long M26 could also be pressed into service for overflowing lorries.

Specialist drugs first in line for emergency ferry space

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling had mooted the Government leasing entire roll-on, roll-off lorry ferries

Reserving space on ferries for critical supplies is among the contingency plans triggered by the Cabinet today.

Specialist drugs used by the NHS are first in line for space on the No Deal ferries, which were mired in controversy when Transport Secretary Chris Grayling handed one of the contracts to an untested firm with no ships. The deal was later cancelled.

The Department of Health is understood to have contacted pharmaceutical companies urging them to route their supplies using the new ferry services.