Stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather, minister warns

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle urged households to stockpile food as the strongest El Niño lawsuit successful a generation develops in the Pacific, warning of more extreme storms in the UK. She told the Guardian the almighty earthy clime improvement volition pb to "more utmost storms successful this country". Her comments came as the National Audit Office (NAO) warned Britain's food supply chain is at risk given the increasing threat of cyber‑attacks and the climate crisis. The NAO said the government was overly reliant on the private sector to cope with food supply disruption and is due to unveil a strategy around preparing for national emergencies earlier this year. Dame Angela said, external: "We're astir to acquisition astir apt the largest El Niño that has ever been seen, and that volition pb to drier summers, wetter winters, with much utmost storms successful this country." "It volition bash a batch much harm successful Asia with flooding, and truthful I deliberation that we request to instrumentality it seriously." "If you've got a store of a spot of nutrient that tin support you going for a portion earlier the exigency services tin get to you, you're going to beryllium a batch amended disconnected than if you haven't." "So immoderate of it is that benignant of mentation for conscionable being a spot much resilient." Her remarks followed an NAO study warning that Britain's food provision chain is susceptible to pest or disease outbreaks, cyber‑attacks and extreme weather. It also cited climate change as a longer‑term chronic hazard that could leave Britain's food provision at risk. The disruptions could drive up prices and leave vulnerable people struggling to buy food, the NAO said. It added that the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) was excessively reliant on private companies to handle disruptions to food supply and had not done enough in recent years to improve supply‑chain resilience. UK households are less prepared for emergencies than those in Finland, Sweden and European Union nations, the NAO added. It said ministers should encourage households to plan for supply‑chain disruptions and learn from the approaches taken by other countries.