The UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting has warned that citizens should be ready for emergencies related to climate extremes, or cyber attacks on energy infrastructure. According to the BBC, Streeter reminded the country of wildfires that burned this summer, and flooding expected this winter.
In response, many citizens are adopting some form of “prepper” lifestyle.
Just sayin’ – a lot of the needed preparations for any type of emergency involve accelerating the transition to clean, distributed energy.
Some retailers have seen a dramatic increase in sales of essential goods after the government called for people to stock up in case of a crisis, according to figures obtained by Newsnight.
The Iceland supermarket chain said it was “clear” consumers had listened to warnings after it saw a 40% increase in sales of tinned products over the weekend.
The rise in sales came after Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said that people should stockpile goods to prepare for an emergency such as a cyber attack or an extreme weather event.
Streeting said the public need to be prepared for “increasingly sophisticated cyber-attacks” on businesses, or supply chain disruption caused by “hostile state actors or terrorists”.
The government hopes to improve the UK’s preparedness for emergencies, such as those caused by increasingly likely severe weather events and cyber-attacks by hostile states.
Incidents could leave the public without access to everyday services such as mains water, sewage, phones and the internet.
