EL NIÑO GLOBAL IMPACT IN UK NATIONAL RESILIENCE PLAN

People living in the United Kingdom are being advised by the British government to stock up on emergency supplies as concerns mount over the possible global impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon this year.

It comes as the UK government gets ready to unveil a national emergencies campaign in which citizens will be told to stock up on tinned food, bottled water, toilet paper, and other essentials.

It’s stated that this will be in preparation for all types of emergencies, including severe weather and prolonged power cuts, as well as cyberattacks and threats from hostile states.

On the weather front, the UK’s Environment Secretary, Dame Angela Eagle, has cautioned: “We’re about to experience probably the largest El Niño that has ever been seen, and that will lead to drier summers, wetter winters, with more extreme storms in this country. It will do a lot more damage in Asia with flooding, and therefore I think that we need to take it seriously.”

She urged: “If you’ve got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you’re going to be a lot better off than if you haven’t.”

Regarding the weather element, El Niño is already making its presence felt in the Pacific, with several powerful storms already raging.  Weather forecasters, trade experts, and governments in that region and beyond have raised alarms about the impact this is likely to have on international trade, especially in food and agricultural supplies.

The knock-on effects from this year’s Pacific El Niño are also expected to be felt in the Caribbean region, despite this year’s hurricane season likely to produce fewer storms than in previous years when the region was impacted by the Atlantic La Niña effect.

As explained by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), El Niño and La Niña can both have global impacts on weather, wildfires, ecosystems, and economies. It says episodes of El Niño and La Niña typically last nine to 12 months, but can sometimes carry on for years.

MORE THAN WEATHER TO UK PLAN

In some respects, the message coming from the UK government is being interpreted as more of an urging, with some degree of urgency, rather than simply advice on suggested action, with El Niño seen as just one factor.

At the same time the British government is urging its citizens to have emergency supplies on standby due to the likely weather impacts, the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) has warned that Britain’s food supply chain is at risk not only due to the wider climate crisis, but also the growing threat of cyber-attacks.

The planned national resilience campaign later this year will be structured to support residents in preparing for all types of emergencies, including severe weather and prolonged power cuts, as well as cyberattacks and threats from hostile states, according to expert analysis.

The campaign will form part of a broader shift towards a “whole-of-society” approach to national security, bringing the public, businesses, local authorities, voluntary organisations and the military more closely into the UK’s preparations for major crises.

A report this past July from the Office of the UK Security Minister stated: “In the short time since the publication of the Resilience Action Plan last July, we have experienced new conflict in the Middle East, a growing number of sub-threshold attacks from Russia, the unprecedented growth of new technology, several major cyber attacks, and increasingly severe weather.”

The upcoming national resilience campaign from the Resilience Action Plan will aim “to ensure most households have basic supplies and knowledge about how to cope in a crisis, in order to free up immediate government resources for the most vulnerable.”