Britons have been urged to stock up on emergency supplies including food, water and first aid kits in a "resilience" push to protect against growing threats to the UK.
The warning from Deputy PM Oliver Dowden comes as the Government has unveiled "Prepare" - an online service designed to teach Britons the best course of action before, during and after an emergency.
Dowden's Prepare site pushes the public to get ready for risks including biosecurity crises, flooding, power outages or another pandemic.
Prepare warns of the frequency of emergencies every day in the UK and around the world - and highlights "deliberate actions" alongside accidents, natural hazards and infrastructure failure.
Dowden's Prepare site pushes the public to get ready for risks including biosecurity crises and flooding
PA
It also warns of events that "develop and continue over the course of several days, months, or sometimes even longer".
In response to the emergency warnings, Britons have been handed a set of measures to ready their households for emergencies - though the Deputy PM has counselled that these are "about sensible safeguards, not stockpiling".
The "emergency kit" consists of:
- A battery or wind-up torch.
- A portable power bank for charging your mobile phone.
- Battery or wind-up radio to get updates during a power cut.
- Spare batteries for torches and radio and a backup battery for any necessary medical equipment.
- A first aid kit or items including items such as waterproof plasters, bandages, a thermometer, antiseptic, eyewash solution, sterile dressings and gloves, medical tape for dressings, and tweezers.
- Hand sanitiser and wet wipes.
- Bottled water.
- Non-perishable food like tinned meat, fruit or vegetables (and a tin opener).
- Baby supplies such as nappies and baby formula.
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The warning from Deputy PM Oliver Dowden comes as the Government has unveiled the "Prepare" website
UK Government
The campaign follows Dowden's 2023 introduction of a new emergency alert system which sends mobile phones loud alerts if there is a risk to life in the area.
A government source said the new website forms part of the "largest overhaul of resilience in decades", which will include new training for MPs alongside a new programme to model what would happen in another pandemic.
The programme is slated to involve thousands of people taking part in a tier one pandemic exercise next summer.
And the news comes mere weeks after Dowden warned threats to the UK’s national security are increasing and the "risk landscape" is the worst since the Cold War.
Dowden told GB News at the time: "Over the past few months and years we have seen the risk landscape affecting the United Kingdom increasing considerably.
"It's certainly the worst since the Cold War, possibly since the Second World War."
Dowden explained that there are "a range of different issues" affecting the risk landscape, including "cyber, economic security, or conventional security", noting the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
He said the UK is "increasing our resources" to address security risks, but warned there are "greater challenges" facing Britain.