// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Prepare for supply chain disruption from cyber or climate emergencies, Streeting warns
Members of the public and businesses need to think more about how they would cope with natural disasters, cyber attacks or state-sponsored terrorism, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting says.
Streeting warned people needed to be more aware of emerging risks facing the UK and make plans to deal with them.
He added that the government was launching a "national resilience conversation" to raise awareness, including advice for households like stocking up on food, bottled water and first aid supplies.
Last month Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said people should prepare for extreme weather as the strongest El Niño event in a generation develops over the Pacific Ocean.
Speaking to an audience at the UK Gun Hall Plant in Telford on Thursday, where it was announced production of tank gun barrels would return to the UK, he spoke of "everyday challenges" facing households.
He pointed to wildfires burning this summer and with flooding expected this winter.
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".
"How would we cope if the payment systems at the local supermarket went down?" he said.
"Those are the sorts of everyday challenges and threats that we could well face. And it's right that we ask the country to be ready for those things and to ask everyone to do their bit."
The defence secretary on Thursday spoke at the opening of the UK Gun Hall Plant in Telford, Shropshire