The UK government is intensifying emergency preparedness plans ahead of potential challenges from El Niño this winter, urging households to stock nine essential items. The move follows an official survey that found only 13% of people consider their household largely or wholly prepared for a disaster.
Nationwide campaign to boost resilience
UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis has committed to strengthening community resilience, acknowledging the nation is likely to face "a number of challenges" in the coming months. A nationwide initiative will brief the public on essential supplies, evacuation routes and emergency contacts.
The campaign is expected to recommend storing items including a battery or wind-up torch, bottled water and tins of non-perishable food.
El Niño risks and government response
Scientists have reported that El Niño has become the strongest ever recorded, potentially bringing heightened rainfall and storms this autumn, alongside cold spells in late winter. Experts have warned it could disrupt weather systems worldwide, sparking concerns about global food supply chains.
Asked whether the public should worry about El Niño, Mr Jarvis said: "Well, it's been quite a tough summer. The prime minister has made a commitment to do a wildfire summit and we'll be honouring that commitment. I think we have to be prepared for the winter. We'll see what weather comes, but on the balance of probabilities, there will be a number of challenges that we have to face over the course of this coming winter."
Mr Jarvis added: "The campaign will make sure that there is a much greater understanding of the kind of really sort of simple, low-level things that everybody can do in their own household to make sure that they are as resilient as possible, and that resilience at a local level gives us a much greater resilience at a regional and then at a national level as well."
Community lessons from Leicester
The Mirror accompanied Mr Jarvis on a visit to residents in Leicester, where resilience strategies have been fast-tracked following recurring flooding. Around 5,000 members of the public have already participated in the campaign ahead of its autumn launch.
Residents spoke of their fears of further floods and showed measures they had implemented, including a flood barrier and a WhatsApp group for neighbours to coordinate efforts. The minister took part in a workshop where residents assessed their preparedness, including whether they could prepare food during a power cut without ovens or microwaves.
Debbie Rossell, whose Leicester home was flooded twice in recent years, described the impact as "devastating" and said she remains "on edge" about winter. She had to leave her property from January to August 2024 for substantial renovation, and again from January to May last year after a second flood.
"It's just devastating. My husband's health's not great so you've got all the mould, the smell. It's just heartbreaking. It's horrible," she said. "We've got flood barriers at the front door and at the back door. When we get flood alerts, things like that, we're watching the weather all the time, thinking, right, do we need to put them up?"
Mark Warden, the area's local resilience forum manager, said preparedness is not about being "scared" but about ensuring communities are well-informed. He noted this could involve knowing that 105 is the contact number for power outages, keeping insurance documents in a plastic folder in a known place, and knowing your neighbours.
"It's not about necessarily being scared. It's just about taking really simple steps that will help prepare people should they ever be disrupted by an event," Mr Warden said.
Resilience is expected to be a key theme in Andy Burnham's address at the Labour conference next week.
