Yahoo News How Westminster terror attack had echoes of Brussels, Nice and Berlin
The terror attack which left three people dead and 20 injured came a year to the day since the Isil suicide bombers killed more than 30 people in Brussels and bore striking similarities to atrocities in France and Germany.
The attacker drove a grey Hyundai i40 along Westminster Bridge, repeatedly swerving into groups of pedestrians before crashing into railings. He left at least 20 people injured and two people dead.
It comes amid concerns that terrorists are increasingly resorting to "low-tech" attacks to inflict maximum damage because of the difficulty obtaining guns and bombs.
In July last year dozens of people were killed when a lorry ploughed into a large crowd watching a fireworks display to mark the Bastille Day holiday.
Months later an attacker drove a lorry into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing several people and injuring dozens more. Both Isil and al Qaida have previously urged followers to use vehicles to carry out attacks.
In September 2014, then-spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani referred to "the filthy French" in a statement telling Muslims within the country to attack them in any way they could, including "crush them with your car."
A report published in December by Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, said the bloc was facing a range of terrorist threats and attacks including the use of bladed weapons and vehicles.
2005 - 2017 | Terror attacks in the UK
In January former terror laws watchdog David Anderson spoke of a "realisation on the part of the terrorists that they don't need sophisticated explosives plots to take great numbers of lives".
He added: "People using automatic weapons, heavy goods vehicles, even knives, machetes, and securing all the publicity they could possibly want from deploying relatively simple weapons such as that."
Earlier this month it was revealed that 13 potential attacks have been foiled since the murder of Lee Rigby in 2013, while counter-terrorism units are running more than 500 live investigations at any time.
The official threat level for international terrorism has been at severe - meaning an attack is "highly likely" - for more than two years.
And the events at Westminster appear to tally with warnings about the threat posed by more rudimentary tactics, such as lone or small numbers of assailants carrying out knife attacks or using vehicles as weapons, in addition to more large-scale bomb or firearms plots.
Scotland Yard counter-terror chief Mark Rowley said earlier this month that police are concerned about "everything from fairly simple attacks with knives or using vehicles all the way through to the more complex firearms attacks".
Security services and police will be starting to piece together the possible motivations behind the attack on Wednesday, but the location - the heart of British democracy - will be seen as highly significant.
Will Geddes, chief executive of International Corporate Protection, said: "Obviously the method of attack, a low tech attack which uses a gun or knife and a car, it is highly likely this attacker knew they were going to die.
"Lone wolves usually know they are either going to kill themselves or die as a result of their actions.There is every good chance it will be an Islamic State lone wolf.
"I think what we are seeing is a spike in these kind of attacks. These kind of attacks are easy to carry out." Mr Geddes suggested that the attacks comes as Isil's influence appears to be waning.
He said: "Their propaganda machine is failing, their numbers are falling and they are unable to get as much air time as they used to.
Westminster terror attack shooting in pics
"They are old news in effect. As far as they are concerned they have got to do something which is going to make the whole world turn round.
"The Houses of Parliament is a target that they know will draw the attention of the international media, it is a marketing campaign. "It's a symbolic attack and they want to draw as much attention as possible to themselves."
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