Type 2 diabetes accounts for approximately 90% of the three million people who have diabetes in the UK, and it presents a significant challenge to the NHS. The number of people developing the condition is rapidly increasing, and it is estimated that five million people will have diabetes by 2025. Diabetes can lead to the development of a number of disabling and costly complications including blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke and amputation. Type 2 diabetes is treated by improvements in lifestyle, losing weight, treatment with a number of oral medications and, eventually, injection therapy including insulin. The increasing number of people with diabetes means it is a significant consumer of NHS resources. The development of type 2 diabetes is associated with a number of risk factors. There is strong and consistent evidence which shows that early detection of people at high risk followed by changes in lifestyle can reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes and its complications, eg: diabetes. New guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on identifying people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and the provision of clinically and cost effective interventions to prevent or delay the onset of the condition has recently been published. This article summarises the guidance and particularly focuses on the role of nurses working in primary and community care settings.