UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said Thursday that the public and businesses should plan for natural disasters, cyberattacks and disruption of essential supply chains, the BBC reported¹.

Speaking at the UK Gun Hall plant in Telford, where the government announced that production of tank gun barrels would return to the United Kingdom, Streeting said people needed to be more aware of emerging risks and make plans to deal with them¹.

He cited wildfires this summer and flooding expected this winter, and said the public should be ready for increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks on businesses or supply-chain disruption caused by hostile states or terrorists¹.

"How would we cope if the payment systems at the local supermarket went down?" Streeting said, according to the BBC¹.

The government is launching a national resilience conversation and a Be Ready campaign that encourages households to keep three days of supplies, including non-perishable food, bottled water, a torch, sleeping bags and first-aid items, plus an FM radio for updates during outages¹.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the advice would let emergency services prioritise people who need more support in a crisis and that similar campaigns are already common in France, Ireland and the Netherlands¹.

Last month Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said households should prepare for more extreme weather tied to a strong El Nino, the BBC said¹.

No other outlet was in the desk coverage at filing. Independent confirmation of the Telford remarks beyond the BBC account was not available¹.

Sources

1. BBCPrepare for supply chain disruption from cyber or climate emergencies, Streeting warns publicOct 22, 1:46 PM

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