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

The British government told citizens on Friday to maintain three days of emergency supplies at home, citing this week’s PHP software glitch and the summer’s heat, drought and wildfires as examples of potential disruptions.

The government launched a "Be Ready" campaign that recommends keeping three days of bottled water and non-perishable food at home.

The campaign follows a PHP programming language security flaw disclosed on Wednesday that forced some services offline and triggered millions of hacking attempts.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Britain had been "on the back foot" responding to emergencies and needed to be more proactive.

He hosted a meeting on wildfire response and announced a new wildfire response plan that includes deploying military aircraft.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said cyber incidents like the PHP outage would become more common as AI makes it easier to bypass traditional defences. He also pointed to risks from hostile states, organised criminals and climate change.

The UK faces a greater level of threat "than we have certainly for most, if not all, of my lifetime," Streeting said during an appearance on the BBC’s "Question Time" programme broadcast overnight.

Britain’s advice mirrors guidance from the European Commission, which told EU citizens last year to keep a 72-hour emergency kit with supplies including food, water, cash and power banks.