People in Norfolk should be "a little bit scared" and prepare now for events such as cyber attacks and severe weather, the former head of the British Army has warned.
Lord Dannatt made the remarks after a specially-convened meeting where Norfolk officials discussed the potential threats the county could face - and how to respond to them.
It comes after weeks of headlines about the need to stockpile food, water and other essentials, with cyber attacks on fridges and freezers at supermarkets showing the disruption they can cause.
(Video by India Das-Brown)
The advice – and a warning from Lord Dannatt – was issued by Norfolk leaders in the wake of the government's Be Ready campaign and the National Emergencies Trust's Ready Together campaign.
The Norfolk Resilience Forum – made up of public services, emergency responders and local organisations to plan for emergencies – held a two-hour-long meeting at the Norfolk Showground on Monday (November 13) to discuss possible threats and how the county can prepare for them.
The meeting was chaired by Lord Dannatt in his capacity as president of the National Emergencies Trust.
He said: "The UK is behind the game. Countries which share borders with Russian have been working on their resilience for years. But we think 'we're an island and it is someone else's problem'.
"But what we all know is that a variety of things could happen and it makes great sense to be aware and be prepared for that.
"If there's a major attack and on aspects of the National Grid and all the lights stay off, have you got tins of baked beans and batteries for your torch? Have you the means of living your life?"
Some critics have accused the government of alarmism and scaremongering over the messaging around its Be Ready campaign.
But Lord Dannatt said: "That's a sensible thing to do. It shouldn't be scaremongering, but I think people do need to be a little bit scared and a little bit reflective of what they need to do.
"We are not anticipating Russian soldiers on the Norfolk coast, but as we have seen recently, fridges and freezers in supermarket have been subjected to attacks. We have to take that sort of attack seriously."
The emergency preparedness campaigns aim to make households feel better equipped for disruptive events, such as cyber attacks and severe weather, and comes in the wake of heatwaves, drought and fires in the UK, including Norfolk, during the summer.
Steps advised include checking you have essentials such as three days' worth of food and water and finding out how to volunteer to support communities during an emergency.
Scott Norman, deputy chief fire officer and chairman of the Norfolk Resilience Forum, said: "We are not doing this because it is nice to do, but because we want people in Norfolk to be prepared in the case of an emergency.
"It's about thinking about things early and creating self sufficiency in the household, with up to three days of food.
"But it's also about how we work with the community clubs and groups out there to help get the message across about the really simple steps which can be taken to keep community connected."
The Norfolk Resilience Forum's leaders said the way Norfolk came together during Covid showed the strength of the county, with community organisations and volunteers, in working together to protect everyone in the community.
Claire Mackintosh, chief executive of the Norfolk Community Foundation, said the forum was keen to help such organisations and volunteers to get the message across.
She said it would work with them to help people within the community, should there be major disruption, whether due to a cyber attack or severe weather.
She added: "We are building on the experiences that we had during Covid. We know that Norfolk people look after other Norfolk people, so let's help them do that even more."
THE RUSSIAN CONNECTION
The Be Ready and Ready Together campaigns come at a time of heightened concern over the prospect of cyber attacks on the UK, including from Russia.
A number of European countries have reported that supermarket fridges and freezers warmed up after they were remotely taken over, resulting in tons of spoiled food at a total cost of millions of euros.
The Ministry of Defence did not confirm who was behind the drone activity, but acknowledged the incidents took place during tensions with Russia and Iran.
The drones were believed to have been launched from a Kremlin spy ship, the HAV Dolphin, sighted off the coast of Humberside at the time of the operation.
And last year, the mastermind of a Russian spy ring run from a Norfolk seaside hotel was jailed for 10 years and eight months.
He headed a network of Bulgarian nationals – dubbed the Minions – engaged in a series of surveillance and intelligence operations over three years, working for the Russian intelligence service, GRU.
It was believed to be one of the "largest and most complex" enemy operations to be uncovered on UK soil.
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