The Foreign Office is strongly advising British nationals to leave Syria after a “rapid deterioration” in the situation there.
Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC: “British nationals should leave Syria now unless they have a pressing reason to remain.
“Obviously I’m concerned that if this trouble got worse, some of them would find it wasn’t easy to get out of Syria at all.”
Across Syria, witnesses have reported arrests and intensifying violence as popular protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have escalated.
On Monday, witnesses reported Syrian troops had opened fire on protesters in a suburb of Damascus, the Syrian capital.
More than 350 people have been killed since the unrest began in Syria five weeks ago. The worst single day for casualties was Friday, with 112 deaths, according to human rights groups.
On Sunday, 13 people died in Jabla as security forces moved into a Sunni quarter after protests, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.