The British government is about to tell you to prepare for the worst. Not in a panic-inducing way, but with "small but important steps" – like having a plan for when the water stops flowing or the phone signal dies. Cabinet Office Minister Darren Jones told Parliament that a nationwide public awareness campaign will launch later this year, urging everyone to get ready for emergencies ranging from cyber-attacks to severe weather. The move comes as the government updates its national risk register and plans the largest home defence exercise in decades, named Operation Albiston Shadow.
At its simplest, the campaign is a government effort to encourage households to think ahead. Jones said it would help people 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." The advice will build on information already available on the government website. Alongside the campaign, the national risk register – a list of the most acute threats facing the UK – has been expanded to include seven new risks. These include a cyber-attack on water infrastructure and a "digital resilience failure" like the 2024 CrowdStrike outage that crippled more than eight million computers. One risk, disruption to Russian gas supplies, was removed because the UK has reduced its reliance on Russian gas. The register now totals 95 risks.
“Explains the UK government's campaign urging people to prepare for cyber-attacks and severe weather.”
Why is this happening now? Jones pointed to a combination of pressures: record-breaking temperatures in May and June, the rapid rise of artificial intelligence giving criminals new ways to launch cyber-attacks, and global conflicts such as the war in Ukraine. "The risks we face from climate change cannot be underestimated," he said, warning of "significant and prolonged disruption to essential services." The government had already been warned in May that Britain's vital supply chains were unprepared for a major shock. Research by the National Preparedness Commission suggested the UK was lagging behind other European countries in stockpiling critical medicines and called for fresh thinking. Scientists have also highlighted the human toll: a heatwave across England and Wales in June killed about 440 people a day during its three-day peak.
For ordinary UK readers, the campaign means practical guidance on how to secure water, power and basic phone signal. The government is not asking anyone to build a bunker, but to think about what they would do if local shops closed or the internet went down for days. The campaign will also tie into a broader resilience push: next year, the military will run Operation Albiston Shadow, a multi-day exercise testing the country's ability to respond to hybrid attacks – a mix of conventional and cyber warfare. Jones said the UK has "overcome challenges from plagues and pandemics to war and our fair share of wet weather," but added that "we can all play our part to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe."
Q: What is the national risk register? The national risk register is a government document that lists the most serious threats facing the UK. It currently contains 95 risks, from pandemics to cyber-attacks. The latest update added seven new entries, including cyber-attacks on water infrastructure and digital resilience failure, while removing the threat of disruption to Russian gas supplies.
Q: What should I do to prepare for an emergency? The government will launch a public awareness campaign later this year with specific advice. General steps, already on the government website, include keeping a small supply of food and water, having a backup phone charger, and knowing how to turn off utilities. The campaign will emphasise "small but important steps" rather than extreme measures.
Q: Why is the government focusing on this now? Ministers say the UK faces a growing number of threats: climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, AI is enabling sophisticated cyber-attacks, and global conflicts have exposed supply chain vulnerabilities. Recent warnings that Britain was unprepared for a major shock, combined with record heatwaves and the CrowdStrike outage, have accelerated planning.
What happens next? The public awareness campaign is expected to roll out before the end of the year. In 2025, Operation Albiston Shadow will test the UK's ability to handle hybrid attacks. The national risk register will continue to be reviewed and updated as new threats emerge.
