Brits warned to 'be ready' for national crisis: Government campaign urges storing food and water for three days, cash in case electronic system collapses, and a wind-up radio

Households have been warned to 'be ready' for a national crisis in a new Government campaign.

Stockpiling three days of food and water and having enough cash to get by if the electronic payments system collapses are among the 'small steps' recommended.

The checklist of measures also includes having a wind up or battery radio, and a power pack to charge devices if the power goes off.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said the guidance would help people be braced for events such as wildfires, flooding and cyber attacks. 

It emerged as organisations around the world scramble to fix a critical security flaw in the programming language PHP, used by the majority of websites.

Downing Street on Thursday said no large UK public-facing critical services have been affected - but 32 Government websites have gone dark while issues are resolved.

National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) experts are working with OpenAI, whose technology was used to discover the vulnerabilities, and partners around the globe to address potential problems, a No 10 spokeswoman said.

Speaking at the opening of the UK Gun Hall Plant in Telford, Mr Streeting said of the message to the public: 'Are they prepared for the eventuality that there may be disruption to essential supply chains caused by hostile state actors or terrorists? 

'How would we cope if the payment systems of the supermarkets went down?

'Those are the sorts of everyday challenges and threats we could well face, and it is right we ask the country to be ready for those things and ask everybody to do their bit.'

The Be Ready site suggests the principle should be to have enough supplies for three days so people can 'manage while support reaches those most in need'. 

Brits are urged to 'see what you already have' in the way of essentials, and note down 'what you still need, remembering items your family relies on, such as medical supplies, baby formula or pet food'.

An emergency stockpile can be assembled 'gradually', according to the advice.

'Pick up missing items when you can during your regular shopping trips to help spread the cost,' the site said.

Households should then 'check it regularly'. 'Set a reminder every six months to check expiry dates and swap out items that need replacing, or update your kit if your household’s needs have changed.'

The site added: 'Talk to your neighbours about what extra support you might be able to share during an outage, and swap contact details.'

The head of the army, Sir Roly Walker, said last week that the Government needed to start a 'frank conversation' with the public about the need to prepare for war. 

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said today that 'those who can' follow the preparedness advice should - stressing similar guidance was issued in France, Ireland and the Netherlands. 

'By taking simple steps to be ready for everyday emergencies like severe storms, people can reduce pressure on emergency services, helping them prioritise people who need more support in an emergency,' he said. 

'This is just the sort of community-focused campaign the UK needs to improve our resilience as a nation. It will bring us into line with European counterparts, where advice like this is a normal part of everyday life.