UK households urged to stockpile tins of food to prepare for war on UK soil

UK households are being urged to stock up on tinned food as soon as possible to prepare for the spectre of war on home soil.

Ministers are stepping up calls for all of the UK's society to become more resilient and plan to carry out a cross-government exercise on how to deal with potential future crises. A new security strategy published in June said: "Some adversaries are laying the foundations for future conflict, positioning themselves to move quickly to cause major disruption to our energy and or supply chains, to deter us from standing up to their aggression. For the first time in many years, we have to actively prepare for the possibility of the UK homeland coming under direct threat, potentially in a wartime scenario."

The UK government has set up a website called 'UK Prepare' which offers timeless advice for households to be ready for any eventuality, including but not limited to the outbreak of war. Whether it will be for a grid outage, extreme weather, an attack or another kind of national emergency, the UK's Prepare website has listed a set of guidance around what UK households should have on hand to be ready for anything.

The UK's Prepare website contains a list of key advice for British households to be ready for possible emergencies in future.

Among its guidance, it urges households to have a set of emergency supplies at home, including batteries, power banks, radios, bottled water and tinned food.

The site urges households to stock up on 'non perishable food'. It says: "Non-perishable food that doesn't need cooking, such as ready-to-eat tinned meat, fruit or vegetables (and a tin opener). As with water, how much you need will vary based on your own circumstances. Don't forget food for pets."

In a similar vein, it also urges households to stockpile bottled water, adding: "Bottled water - there is no standard figure for this as emergencies can vary in duration and people use different amounts. A minimum of 2.5-3 litres of drinking water per person per day is recommended by the World Health Organisation for survival. Ten litres per person per day will make you more comfortable by also providing for basic cooking and hygiene needs. Additional water might be needed to make up baby formula, for medical devices and for pets."

And if you have a baby, don't forget baby formula: "Baby supplies such as nappies and baby formula - ready made or 'ready-to-feed' formula is best as you may not be able to boil water or sterilise bottles."

The UK government advice says: "Emergencies happen every day in the UK and across the world. They can be caused by severe weather or other natural hazards, by deliberate actions, or as a result of accidents or infrastructure failure.

"They can be events that happen quickly and are over in a few hours, or they can develop and continue over the course of several days, months, or sometimes even longer."

It recommends that households slowly build up supplies over time, rather than rush out and grab the items in one go, adding: "Rather than buying all the items at once, you could just add to your emergency kit when you are able and build it up over time."