Stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather, minister says

Households should stock up on food to prepare for extreme weather as the strongest El Niño event in a generation develops over the Pacific Ocean, a government minister has said.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle told the Guardian the powerful natural climate phenomenon will lead to "more extreme storms in this country".  Her comments came as the National Audit Office (NAO) warned Britain's food supply chain is at risk given the growing threat of cyber-attacks and the climate crisis.

The NAO said the government was too reliant on the private sector to deal with food supply disruption. The government is due to unveil a strategy about preparing for national emergencies later this year.

Dame Angela said "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."

Her comments came as an NAO report warned Britain's food supply chain is vulnerable to plant or human disease outbreaks, cyber-attacks and extreme weather.  It also cited climate change as a longer-term chronic risk which could leave Britain's food supply at risk.  The disruptions could push up prices and leave vulnerable people struggling to buy food, it said.

The NAO said the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) was too reliant on private companies to handle disruptions to food supply.  It added the department had not done enough in recent years to improve supply chain resilience.

UK households are less prepared for emergencies than those in several other countries such as Finland, Sweden and European Union nations, the NAO added.  It said ministers should encourage households to prepare for supply chain disruptions and learn from the approaches taken by other countries.

I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

Incidentally, the floating footpath to Temple Quay apparently cost £10m. I believe that was paid for by the University as a planning condition.   

...................and of course by 11 December it will no longer be GWR's problem, as they will no longer exist.

I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

Campaigners say the cancellation of five weekday services between Penzance in Cornwall and Plymouth or Exeter in Devon has been "the least bad choice" for operator GWR to get on top of reliability problems with its newer Class 175 fleet locally.

Roger Blake, national director at campaigning group Railfuture, said temporary cancellations from Monday were "an unfortunate step back in order to then, we hope, take a couple of steps forward".

The trains, previously been used by Transport for Wales, were in storage for two years before GWR started using them in May.

Timetable changes were scheduled to run until 11 December, but GWR said it hoped to bring the trains back before that if possible.

Passed through their yesterday
I am intrigued how much use it will get and how much increased footfall there will be going the opposite way to normal at the station