Britons urged to take ‘small steps’ to prepare for potential national crises

Government to launch campaign to help people cope with events such as weather emergencies or cyber-attacks

The British public should begin taking “small but important steps” to secure and protect water, power supplies and basic phone signal in case of further severe weather emergencies, national crises or cyber-attacks, Downing Street has said.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told MPs “the risks we face from climate change cannot be underestimated”, and warned of the “significant and prolonged disruption to essential services” extreme weather events could cause.

Jones also said the combination of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence, and the conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s war in Ukraine could enable criminals to carry out “hostile cyber-attacks against businesses and critical infrastructure”.

As a result the UK’s national risk register has been updated with seven new crises, including the threat of foreign interference in UK democracy, the risk of cyber-attacks on data infrastructure, water infrastructure and police systems, and a “digital resilience failure” scenario, based on the global technology outage caused by the CrowdStrike disruption in 2024 .

Ministers were warned in May that Britain’s vital supply chains were unprepared for the prospect of a major shock, such as a war with Russia, and that bold steps were needed to catch up with “worst-case scenario” planning by European states. Research launched privately in Westminster by the National Preparedness Commission suggested Britain was lagging behind other European countries when it came to the stockpiling of supplies such as critical medicines, and called for fresh thinking.

Scientists have also cautioned that human actions in the form of burning fossil fuels and intensifying agriculture have supercharged hot weather, with data suggesting the heatwave across England and Wales in June killed about 440 people a day during its three-day peak.

Jones said: “Throughout our history, the UK has overcome challenges, from plagues and pandemics to war, and our fair share of wet weather. It is right that we consistently evaluate the risks we could face and plan for what may come.

“This year we saw temperatures across the UK breaking records in May, only to be exceeded again in June, and AI offers new ways for criminals to carry out cyber-attacks against us, as well as offering huge opportunities for our economy and security.”

In a written statement, Jones also announced a national public awareness campaign would be launched to help people prepare for such emergencies, “be that severe weather or a cyber-attack which can impact access to power, water, phone signal or local shops to get food”.

The UK’s biggest ever “national home defence exercise” will take place in 2027, featuring hundreds of officials wargaming Britain’s preparedness for hybrid attacks and ensure Britain is in alignment with its Nato allies against a backdrop of rising threats.

The armed forces minister Louise Sandher-Jones said: “Russia is not only a threat to Nato’s eastern flank. It is a direct threat to the UK homeland and these exercises, together with important measures like updating our ‘war books’, will help prepare us to meet that threat, as well as showing the British public how seriously we are taking it.”