Britons are set to be urged to keep food, bottled water and other emergency supplies at home as the Government steps up preparations for major national emergencies.
The Cabinet Office is reportedly preparing a new public-information campaign encouraging households to improve their resilience to events including cyber-attacks, extreme weather, power cuts and disruption linked to hostile states.
The move would build on existing official Government guidance, which already advises people to consider keeping bottled water, non-perishable food, torches, batteries, first-aid supplies and other essentials at home.
The Government has not suggested that an attack on Britain is imminent, and the advice is intended to help households cope with a wide range of emergencies rather than prepare specifically for war.
Households to be encouraged to prepare for emergencies
The Guardian reports that the Cabinet Office is preparing a fresh campaign aimed at increasing public awareness of practical steps people can take before a national emergency occurs.
The campaign is expected to encourage households to keep basic supplies that would allow them to cope temporarily if normal services such as electricity, water, communications or food distribution were disrupted.
Existing Government guidance recommends keeping non-perishable food that does not require cooking and bottled drinking water.
It says a minimum of 2.5 to 3 litres of drinking water per person per day is recommended for survival, while larger quantities can also provide for basic cooking and hygiene needs.
Official survey shows gaps in household preparedness
The Government's 2026 UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness suggests many households do not currently have substantial emergency supplies.
Sixty per cent of respondents said they had non-perishable food that would last their household approximately three days, while 37% said they had enough bottled water for three days.
A separate calculation based on the amount of bottled water respondents reported actually storing found that only 4% had enough for three days at a rate of three litres per person per day.
The Cabinet Office survey specifically asks whether households have three days of non-perishable food and at least nine litres of bottled water per person.
Cyber-attacks, extreme weather and hostile states among risks
The reported campaign comes as the Government intensifies work on national resilience against a broad range of threats.
The National Risk Register 2026, published by the Cabinet Office in July and updated in August, sets out the Government's assessment of the most serious risks that could affect the UK and its interests.
Those risks range from extreme weather and infrastructure disruption to cyber incidents, terrorism and hostile-state activity.
The register directs members of the public to the Government's Prepare website for household and community emergency guidance.
Advice already includes food, water and emergency kit
The Government's existing Prepare guidance recommends that households consider keeping bottled water, ready-to-eat tinned or other non-perishable food, spare batteries, a torch, a radio, first-aid supplies, medication and hygiene products.
It also advises people to build up supplies gradually according to their own circumstances rather than buying everything at once.
Additional provision may be required for babies, pets and people who rely on medical equipment or essential medicines.
Not an instruction to stockpile for war
The reported campaign comes amid heightened concern over international security and the resilience of critical infrastructure, but the advice should not be interpreted as an instruction to stockpile specifically in anticipation of military conflict.
The Government's existing preparedness guidance covers a broad range of emergencies including flooding, prolonged power or water outages and other incidents that could temporarily disrupt everyday life.
The precise wording and launch date of the new Cabinet Office campaign have not yet been set out in a newly published Government policy document.
For now, the confirmed position is that official household preparedness guidance already recommends basic emergency supplies, while the Cabinet Office is reported to be preparing a more prominent campaign to encourage wider public take-up.