Here is a map of last night’s attacks

Neil Basu of the Metropolitan Police Photograph: David Jones/PA Archive/Press Association Images

The National Police Chief’s Council has ordered a security review of all major events in Britain over the next seven days.

In a statement Neil Basu, National Operational Lead for Protect and Prepare, said: “As I have following previous terrorist incidents, today I have asked all forces to review major events over the next seven days to ensure the appropriate security is in place.”

It added: “Our counter terrorism officers will do whatever we can to support our French counterparts in the days and weeks that follow as the investigation unfolds.

“UK policing continues to operate at a heightened state against the backdrop of a severe threat level – that level has been in place since 2014.

“Our policing tactics and security measures are constantly reviewed and we, along with our partners, are working around the clock to keep our cities as safe as can be.”

Jason Burke

The use of a truck as a weapon is new, writes Jason Burke.

French authorities – like counterparts around the world – have learned that the most lethal attacks in their country have been perpetrated by individuals or networks with connections to outside organisations.

Mohamed Merah, who killed seven in a shooting spree in 2012, was initially described as a lone wolf but found to be connected to a breakaway al-Qaida faction. Those who attacked Charlie Hebdo magazine last year had a tenuous link to al-Qaida in Yemen. The more recent strikes, including those in November last year and in Belgium in March, involved a well-established network linked to Isis.

Even now, amid the terrible grief and chaos of the aftermath of this latest tragedy, security services in France, around Europe and beyond will have the clinical work of tracing out the killer’s background and connections well under way.

Mark Tran

AFP has spoken to several neighbours of the suspected driver. They describe him as solitary and quiet, who always took his bike up to his apartment.

One neighbour said he did not seem to be a religious person and often wore shorts. A family in the four-story building said he never returned their greetings.

One woman on the ground floor was suspicious of him because of the way he stared at her two daughters. Police were searching the man’s apartment.

Germany has joined Italy in tightening its borders with France.

Germany’s federal police said: “In coordination with the French security authorities the federal police are strengthening their control in the area of cross-border traffic into France.”

French president François Hollande has arrived in Nice where he is about to hold a meeting with security officials. The French prime minister, Manuel Valls, and interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve are also at the meeting.

Ian Black

The Nice attacks have been condemned, by religious and political leaders across the Muslim and Arab world on Arabic-language and English social media.

Egypt’s Grand Mufti lambasted “saboteurs who follow Satan (who will) be damned in this life & in the hereafter.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by the popular Saudi cleric, Sheikh Salman al-Auda, who said the killer would be cursed by “god, his angels and all human beings.” His remarks came after many comments on social media attacked Muslims.

Egypt’s Al-Azhar university, Sunni Islam’s leading centre of learning, said that the “vile terrorist attack” contradicted Islam and called for “uniting efforts to defeat terrorism and rid the world of its evil.”

Tunisia said that the attacker, who police said held joint French-Tunisian citizenship, had committed an act of “extreme cowardice” and expressed solidarity with France against the “scourge of terrorism”.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf neighbours issued a joint statement saying that they “strongly” condemned the “terrorist” act in Nice. “The Gulf Cooperation Council states stand in solidarity with the French republic following this cowardly criminal incident whose perpetrators have been stripped of all moral and human values,” the bloc’s secretary general, Abdullatif al-Zayani, said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned “in the strongest terms the vile terrorist attack”, his office said.

Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit denounced the “craven terrorist attack”, according to his spokesman.

Here’s the full text of Theresa May’s statement:

“I am shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice last night. Our hearts go out to the French people and to all those who’ve lost loved ones or been injured.

“While the full picture is still emerging, it seems that at least 80 people are feared dead and many others have been injured. These were innocent victims enjoying a national celebration with their friends and families.

“We are working urgently to establish whether any British nationals were caught up in the attack. Our ambassador is travelling to Nice today with consular staff and they will be doing all they can to help anyone affected.

“I have asked my deputy national security adviser to chair a Cobra meeting of senior officials, to review what we know and what we can do to help, and I will speak to President Hollande today and make clear that the United Kingdom stands shoulder to shoulder with France today, as we have done so often in the past.

“If, as we fear, this was a terrorist attack, then we must redouble our efforts to defeat these brutal murderers who want to destroy our way of life. We must work with France and our partners around the world to stand up for our values and for our freedom.”

— Theresa May (@theresa_may) July 15, 2016

I am shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice last night. Our hearts go out to the French people: https://t.co/xd0arcO72R

Marine Le Pen
Photograph: Ronald Zak/AP

The Front National leader, Marine le Pen, has used the attack to score political points against the French government’s response to terrorism.

Speaking to Le Figaro, she said:

“Nothing that we have proposed has been put in place. Considering the new nature of terrorism, which is now a terrorism of opportunity, that’s to say without hierarchical structure, the urgency is to attack the ideology on which this terrorism is based.

“And in this space, nothing has been done, absolutely nothing – no reintroduction of double punishment, nor depriving people of nationality, nor the closure of Salafist mosques … nor the banning of certain organisations. In truth, we are not at war. For the moment, we are in a war of words.”

Holly Watt

A label on the side of the truck suggests it was hired from Via Location.

An employee for the company said she could not discuss the matter, citing an instruction from the interior ministry.

“We can give you no information,” she said. “The ministry of the interior has barred us … asked us not to give any information on the vehicle or the driver. So I am sorry, but I can’t answer your questions.”