HM Gov telling us to get tinned food and bottled water?

[DecisionTime123]

Call me old fashioned, but isn't this sort of thing likely to provoke a run on toilet rolls? Couldnt find any other threads on it, but I think there is a "preppers" topic on here somewhere. In any case, what do you think? I'm sort of concerned, should I be? Or has this gone under the radar?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/25/uk-to-warn-citizens-to-stock-up-on-food-amid-threat-from-climate-crisis-and-hostile-states

I think the chances of Russia trying to disrupt supply chains with a cyber attack are raised. There doesn’t need to be a full on war to cause some potentially serious issues. Keeping some long life supplies in is sensible.

It's because of the recent cyber attack that we've only just been told about where Russia shut down a power station for 4 days. We also have El Nino. It doesn't seem hysterical. Have a plan if the water or power gets switched off.

Its sensible advice that has been in place for years in many countries like mine. Being prepared for any event that can prevent you buying food from a shop (extreme weather, extended powercuts, cyber attacks affecting payment systems, industrial accidents releasing clouds of gas you shouldn't breathe - experienced this one myself, and other reasons) is practical advice that prevents panic and difficulties.

If you'd like more information and practical advice then have a look at this guide
https://www.suomi.fi/guides/preparedness/how-to-prepare-for-incidents-and-crises/general-instructions-on-preparedness-home-emergency-supplies-and-on-what-to-do-in-different-situations

Many countries alredy encourage this i don't know what takes so long here to get messaging out.
However the timing with the threat from Putin is worrying isnt it ?

Cyber attacks are getting more likely that could give short term shortages so it's wise to have a bit of a buffer of store cupboard supplies, also a few bottles of water as the water going off is more likely nowadays

I think it’s information people need. I don’t know what to do in the face of a cyber attack for example.

its not going to lead to panic buying. Having an emergency and preparing for one are different things. And I’m sure there are plentiful supplies of tinned food

I can’t do bottled water though- microplastics 😱

I can't move for tins, jars, toilet and kitchen rolls. It started during covid and I cannot break the habit.

To distract us from housing crisis , immigration problem, etc etc etc

Wheee do you keep it all though? I have a big house but no garage and with 3 children and their associated equipment I don’t have anywhere to keep all that, let alone someone in a terrace or flat.

incidentally flat living is pretty common in all these countries seemingly always prepared so I’m a bit suspicious about that. I have family in Italy and Greece and I’ve never heard of it there.

Most sensible governance have been recommending this for years. It's about making sure everyone can get through the first 48h until the lights and water come back on. The incompetent nanny state in the uk had ensued a helpless population though.

I’m not a prepper but I married a vegetarian, so we eat a lot of pulses and grains. I usually forget what we already have when I’m in the supermarket so I often have about twenty tins of pulses (chickpeas, lentils, butter beans, black beans) and several bags of different grains in my cupboard.

I just buy half a dozen new tins with the weekly shop and rotate, a few extra if they’re on offer, a few less when I’m having a tight week. Nothing ever goes off, so it just keeps getting topped up. I’m a bit useless with the freezer though. It’s mostly full of mini magnums, ice cubes and peas.

It’s quite a privileged thing to have the resources to be able to be stocked up on an abundance of food though. There was a time in my life when I only had dry Weetabix to eat for a few days - and there were no emergencies happening that week.

i really do not understand why in the the uk, individuals aren’t better prepared with a proper set up

To hazard a guess - because Brits, while moaning about the Nanny State and Government Control, do actually expect 'Somebody' to look after us.

Saw it with Brexit. With Covid, even the bloody government expected somebody to have it covered, though they themselves had kicked the pandemic preparedness plan into the long grass. People moaning about the NHS don't realise UK private insurance doesn't include emergency or intensive care and have no clue about the real costs, co-pay or pre-existing conditions exclusions.

Now we've been reminded (again) to make a small amount of emergency preparation by and for ourselves, we'll be running around wailing "Who's going to pay for this?" while moaning that the government should protect us from emergencies, yet simultaneously spreading theories that we face no threats and this is all a conspiracy plot to make us ... well, I dunno.

I am not a prepper but I was in Tokyo during the Tohoku earthquake and I have seen, first hand, just how quickly shelves empty after a disaster.

I also happen to know more than a little about the things that I talk about below.

That was in Japan where people are, in general, far more reasonable; and decent than in the UK. You know damn well that there are certain sections of scoiety in the UK who will turn feral as soon as anything happens and looting of supermarkets is an absolute certainty.

However, given that most people are not in the slightest bit prepared then I suspect that those 'certain sections of society' will be much, much, wider than you might imagine. Remember, we are only 9 meals away from anarchy - that is not an exaggeration.

Anyone who has been paying attention will have seen that relations between the UK and Russia have severely deteriorated. You will also have seen that hybrid ('gray zone') warfare is already underway. We might not be shooting at each other but Russia is repeatedly provoking European nations in both the cyber and the physical realms.

The United Kingdom IS on Putin's naughty list and the chances of some sort of action against are very high at this point. Very high.

Whilst some sort of deniable direct action is possible (already happened in 2024 at Cromwell Industrial Estate in London) I think the most likely attack will be in cyberspace. Imagine your bank cards, credit cards and ATMs not working for a week, or your electricity being turned off.. Where do you think your food will be coming from if you can't go shopping and you are not willing to risk run-ins with the ferals who are already running riot through their local Tesco?

FAR too many people are turning a blind eye to this and if you think that having three days supplies in the house is some sort of prepper overkill then you are doing yourself, and your family, a massive disservice.

We visited the UK this summer from our home in the EU. During our 3 week stay
-1 power cut (over quickly)

-no internet for a week in a property that also has no mobile phone signal (problems have been reported over a 6 month period and the provider has not sorted the problem). Annoying but maybe to be expected in a rural property?

-The most alarming - frequently (4-5 times when we were in the area) no water for 6+ hours at a time. Water company dropping multi-packs of 2L water bottles at rural properties which really don't last long if you need to wash up/wash your hands/cook. Even though the country is in drought, I have never experienced anything like the frequency of this before. The last water outage started our last night and was still out 12 hours later when we left.

So I don't really think it's scaremongering, it's an unfortunate reality already.

Having grown up in a rural area, we would always have a full cupboard of tins and long life milk in case we got snowed in (and I do that now as well). I grew up (80 rural UK) with frequent power cuts so my DPs always refused to get an only electric cooker and have always kept the gas hob just in case. Nowadays they also have a back up gas barbecue in the garage.

I live in an urban area in the EU and have candles/matches and torches to hand after an evening blackout the other year. I still need to get a wind up radio, water and an alternative for cooking (camping stove?), power banks, as our government advises.

for ourselves, we'll be running around wailing "Who's going to pay for this?" while moaning that the government should protect us from emergencies, yet

yes, demands for those in poverty to be given more money as how can ordinary people possibly manage this with their phone payments, vapes costs and Netflix dd

I take your point but i was greatful for my "preppers" box of bottled water ,batteries and tins of beans when the electric and water were off for 5 days after strom goretti!

I absolutely agree with this. I live rurally our local farmer has said it’s an absolute disaster. The fields are in a dreadful state. Nothing can be done due to the continued weather and lack of rain.
We are in for a very tough winter.
And yet the government does nothing.

Andy Burnham has just underlined the message of other PM's that we are in a war against Russia.

If a neighbour is throwing stones at your windows, you are not going to look kindly on the other neighbour who is providing them with the stones!

Whatever the rights and wrongs of being involved with Ukraine's war against Russia, it makes sense that Russia will look on us as an active enemy. We are supplying the stones and boasting about it!

That's what all these soft warnings are about. It's being done bit by bit to get us gently used to the situation that trouble is ahead, rather than have headlines shouting, "We Are at War!"

I think that was what the alert sent to ;phones was also about-as if any government would think it essential to warn us not to light a portable barbeque in this hysterical manner.

I rather think it is just getting us used to what will be a series of alerts as Russia hits back.

I cannot afford to stock up as on a modest income due to health reasons. I also have very little space to stock food. Will therefore have to take my chances.

It’s sensible advice that is completely normal in lots of countries. I’m not terribly good at following it, but every person stocking up now, when there’s no immediate crisis, is one less person panic buying the second there’s a supply disruption.

I live in a tiny 2 up 2 down miners cottage, my lean too kitchen is so small I can touch each wall with my hands flat against the surfaces 😂. But I have a big cupboard under the stairs where all of my camping stuff and food stores live. I have a tiny spare room I use for crafting and clothes storage with a built in cupboard about 3ft square and everything else goes in there. It really doesn’t take up that much space ( even with my tent and paddle board etc). The entire lot of my food preps fit in one of these black tubs pictured. My entire very comprehensive Camp kitchen set up including gas, cooker, crockery, cutlery, pans, etc fits in another with sleeping bags and emergency lighting.

i also have plenty of tinned food on rotation in my only food compared in the kitchen but tbh mostly i cook from scratch. The tins are for emergencies and super quick meals and there is more than enough to keep the 3 adults in house going for a while even without everything else

I think this type of government was released a while back also - maybe last year? I think there's an official page on HM Gov website, I seem to remember it was things like having big bottles of water in your home, not just in your shed/ garage or whatever... I do have a big jerry style can of water in the garage - can't fit it in my house. Haven't stockpiled anything. DP is very much 'if the shit really hits the fan there's no point having anything as marauders will kill you for it anyway' - which is as extreme as prepping in my mind - surely there's a middle ground?!

People have been talking about potential world / nuclear war since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

TBH the news is so depressing/ irritating I've not watched it for years - just occasionally I check the headlines but DP has been keeping up with it and as @MissMappsGardenProduce has just said - now our PM has openly provided Ukraine with weapons Russia may see us more openly as an enemy.

I think it's sensible to be aware that we could be attacked.. There were some RAF military training exercises near my home town this spring and this week around midnight Tuesday I got woken up by a helicopter. Same helicopter was flying around for a while.in the morning too (those black ones with the yellow roofs)

I wish I'd bought some bottled water! The water company have been doing work in my road for weeks, they keep turning out water off with no notification, (when we do get notifications they don't turn it off) and at one point flooded our pipes with dirt grit and stones so we had to have emergency plumbers out twice

as others have pointed out is bog standard advice around the rest of the world. Growing up in Nz in the 1980s it was just expected that you had 48hrs worth of water, tinned food, candles, matches and …. Bin bags to make a makeshift toilet in the garden …

with nz its earthquake and extreme weather risk but in the uk its not scaremongering its just basic adulting. Even living in Suffolk you can have the water or power go off randomly, doesn’t need to be a Russian cyber attack.

People don’t tend to buy much tinned food. It used to be the convenience food of choice but now it’s uber eats/hello fresh . I think they are just trying to boost the canned goods economy 😂

Also tins used to have such long expiry dates now they seem to be much shorter. Even beans lack resilience it seems in this modern world?