Brits warned to stock up on food supplies after 'supersize' El Niño warning

The government has warned that households should stock up on supplies in case of extreme weather events.

An unprecedented El Niño event – when sea temperatures in tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5C above the long-term average – is forecast to reach more than 3C in the coming months, making this year’s event "the largest since the 19th century", according to the Met Office.

El Niño creates a heightened risk of drought in the tropics, southern Africa and north-eastern Australia, while north-western Europe – including the UK – is likely to experience wetter and stormier conditions in the coming autumn and early winter, the forecaster said.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle has urged people in the UK to prepare for this.

She told The Guardian on Friday: "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.

"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.

"So some of it is that kind of preparation for just being a bit more resilient."

Professor Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical hazards, University College London, last month said the Met Office and other scientific forecasts “suggest that the world is in for one hell of a ride”.

"The astonishing and unprecedented amount of heat building across the eastern Pacific Ocean is all but certain to make this the most powerful El Niño in living memory – possibly even the biggest in several centuries," he said.

Dame Angela Eagle's advice comes as a report, released by the National Audit Office (NAO) on Friday, warned that The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) may need to do more to prepare for shocks to food supplies.

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The NAO said that Defra had "done too little" in recent years "to encourage businesses, households and communities to strengthen resilience and prepare for potential food shortages caused by disruption to the food supply chain".

The public spending watchdog added that government research shows households in the UK to be "less prepared for emergencies" in comparison with "several other countries".

Defra "must work more closely with households, communities and industry to ensure the food supply chain can withstand increasingly likely and severe shocks including extreme weather events, cyber-attacks and disease outbreaks", it said.

"Short- and long-term risks that could significantly affect the food supply chain are becoming more likely and potentially more severe.

"For example, climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events. As a result, Defra is less confident about the private sector’s ability to withstand such shocks without greater government intervention."

The public spending watchdog also noted that Defra has already taken "some positive steps", including explaining its Food Supply Chain Resilience team and "increasing its focus on planning for catastrophic events".

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