The public will be urged to take “small but important steps” to prepare for food or water shortages in the event of a cyber-attack or severe weather, the government said as it updated Parliament on its national resilience plans.
Cabinet Office Minister Darren Jones announced a public awareness campaign launching later this year to help people prepare for emergencies. He also revealed that the government will carry out the “largest UK home defence exercise in several decades” next year to ensure the country is ready “should the worst ever happen.”
“UK public told to prepare for food shortages from cyber-attack or severe weather; largest home defence exercise next year.”
The announcement came alongside an update to the national risk register, which now includes seven new risks. Among them is the threat of a cyber-attack on water infrastructure and “digital resilience failure” – such as the global CrowdStrike outage that crippled more than eight million computers. The register, which totals 95 risks, also removed one: the threat of disruption to Russian gas supplies, “reflecting that the UK has reduced its reliance on Russian gas.”
Jones said the country’s resilience had been “tested like never before” by global events, pointing to disruption to oil supplies, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, an outbreak of hantavirus and rapid AI developments. “Throughout our history, the UK has overcome challenges from plagues and pandemics to war and our fair share of wet weather,” he told MPs. “It is right that we consistently evaluate the risks we could face and plan for what may come.”
The nationwide awareness campaign will tell people how to prepare for “emergencies and disruption – be that severe weather or a cyber-attack which can impact access to power, water, phone signal or local shops to get food.” It will build on information already available on the government’s website.
As part of its emergency preparations, ministers will run a multi-day exercise named Operation Albiston Shadow, which will test the country’s ability to respond to hybrid attacks. The country’s classified crisis plans – dubbed “war books” – are also being reviewed.
The move signals a significant shift in the government’s approach to domestic resilience, pushing responsibility onto individuals while also ramping up state-led drills. Jones framed it as a collective effort: “The government will do all it can and we are well prepared – but we can all play our part to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.”