UK urges public to keep three-day emergency supply at home

The British government advised its citizens on Friday to stockpile three days' worth of emergency supplies at home, citing recent disruptions as examples. These recent events include a PHP software glitch and the sweltering summer heat, drought, and wildfires. To help citizens prepare, the government launched a "Be Ready" campaign, urging households to stockpile bottled water and non-perishable food items.

This comes after a recent security flaw in the PHP programming language forced some services offline and prompted millions of hacking attempts. Prime Minister Andy Burnham admitted that Britain has been unprepared for emergencies and needs to take a more proactive approach. He convened a meeting to discuss wildfire response and unveiled a new plan that involves deploying military aircraft to combat wildfires.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting warned that cyber incidents like the PHP outage will become more frequent as artificial intelligence makes it easier to circumvent traditional security measures. He also cautioned about threats from hostile states, organized criminals, and climate change. Streeting stated during a BBC "Question Time" appearance that the UK faces a greater level of threat than at any point in his lifetime.

The UK's recommendation aligns with the European Commission's guidance, which recommends that EU citizens maintain a 72-hour emergency kit containing food, water, cash, and power banks.