Investigations are ongoing after fridges and freezers in shops across countries including Sweden, Ireland and Belgium were tampered with remotely and food had to be thrown out. Richard Horne, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, warned “handfuls” of UK organisations overnight and was aware of “a couple of impacts”.
The attacks came less than a fortnight after the government launched its Be Ready campaign, and days after Defence Secretary Wes Streeting warned Britain “must be ready for war in 1,000 days.”
In Britain specifically, some of those caught up were small meat businesses. The British Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, which has more than 300 members, said that some had become “collateral” in the attacks. Two found their fridges had started to defrost, and another saw the temperature in its cold units climb as high as 100C. The units happened to be empty, so no meat was lost, but spokesman Tony Goodger said the episode “must act as a reminder to all in the food industry” that they could be targets.
London has seen how quickly a cyber attack can hit everyday life. Back in 2024, a ransomware attack on the pathology firm Synnovis disrupted two major London NHS trusts, and thousands of operations and appointments had to be postponed.
The future of warfare
This is what security experts say the opening of a modern war could look like. Instead of images of tanks, air-raids and open battlefields, it could be the things people rely on every day quietly failing. Philippe Lefevre, who lectures in security and resilience at Buckinghamshire New University, believes that a conflict involving Britain may begin with a string of small disruptions, none of which on its own would count as an act of war. “No sirens, no declared enemy, no border crossing,” he wrote.
Horne made a similar point on the BBC’s Today programme. The risk was no longer just to computer systems, he said, but to the technology that controls physical things, from electricity switching to water supplies and refrigeration. Asked who was behind Monday’s attack, he said: “It might be states, it might be criminals.”
On the night Be Ready launched, Streeting told BBC Question Time that the supplies might help “if your local shop is subject to a cyber attack and your card isn’t working at the till.” Eleven days later, something close to that happened.
For some Londoners, the advice is hard to follow anyway. Keira Callaghan, a midwife in Tower Hamlets, said in a letter to the Guardian that the campaign’s recommendations “risk excluding precisely those families who are already [the] most vulnerable.” She described families living in a single room in a shared house, with nowhere to store nine litres of water each and little money for extra food. Her answer was for councils to set up stockpile hubs where people in need could get supplies they need for free.
Is panic-buying back?
Within days of the launch, Ocado shoppers found bottled water, batteries and baked beans out of stock, and the retailer said demand had risen over the weekend. Iceland said sales of tinned food rose by 40% that weekend, and Robert Dyas reported a 160% jump in radio sales on the week before. At Maplin, managing director Ollie Marshall said that torch sales nearly quadrupled and radio sales almost doubled in three days.
In London, much of that support would come from the 32 borough councils and the City of London, which would open rest centres, look after vulnerable residents and keep people informed in an emergency. Yet since the campaign was announced, London’s councils have said very little about it.
Residents in the city looking for advice from their council can most prominently find pages written before Be Ready existed. Islington does have an emergency checklist that asks families whether they can survive without power or water for three days, whether they know how to turn off their gas, water and electricity, and whether they know which neighbours might need extra help. The page was last updated in February 2025, and the emergency plan booklet it links dates to 2019.
The government War Book crisis plans are currently being updated for the first time in 22 years, with increased emphasis on aligning military and civilian efforts if international hostilities affect the UK. With the operation in the works, local councils soon might be able to share more information on what to do if confronted by war in London.
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HeadlineIs London ready for war?
Short HeadlineIs London ready for war?
StandfirstAs cyber attacks show what a modern war could look like, Londoners are left with a government checklist and little word from their councils.
Investigations are ongoing after fridges and freezers in shops across countries including Sweden, Ireland and Belgium were tampered with remotely and food had to be thrown out. Richard Horne, head of the National Cyber Security Centre, warned “handfuls” of UK organisations overnight and was aware of “a couple of impacts”.
The attacks came less than a fortnight after the government launched its Be Ready campaign, and days after Defence Secretary Wes Streeting warned Britain “must be ready for war in 1,000 days.”
In Britain specifically, some of those caught up were small meat businesses. The British Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, which has more than 300 members, said that some had become “collateral” in the attacks. Two found their fridges had started to defrost, and another saw the temperature in its cold units climb as high as 100C. The units happened to be empty, so no meat was lost, but spokesman Tony Goodger said the episode “must act as a reminder to all in the food industry” that they could be targets.
London has seen how quickly a cyber attack can hit everyday life. Back in 2024, a ransomware attack on the pathology firm Synnovis disrupted two major London NHS trusts, and thousands of operations and appointments had to be postponed.
The future of warfare
This is what security experts say the opening of a modern war could look like. Instead of images of tanks, air-raids and open battlefields, it could be the things people rely on every day quietly failing. Philippe Lefevre, who lectures in security and resilience at Buckinghamshire New University, believes that a conflict involving Britain may begin with a string of small disruptions, none of which on its own would count as an act of war. “No sirens, no declared enemy, no border crossing,” he wrote.
Horne made a similar point on the BBC’s Today programme. The risk was no longer just to computer systems, he said, but to the technology that controls physical things, from electricity switching to water supplies and refrigeration. Asked who was behind Monday’s attack, he said: “It might be states, it might be criminals.”
On the night Be Ready launched, Streeting told BBC Question Time that the supplies might help “if your local shop is subject to a cyber attack and your card isn’t working at the till.” Eleven days later, something close to that happened.
For some Londoners, the advice is hard to follow anyway. Keira Callaghan, a midwife in Tower Hamlets, said in a letter to the Guardian that the campaign’s recommendations “risk excluding precisely those families who are already [the] most vulnerable.” She described families living in a single room in a shared house, with nowhere to store nine litres of water each and little money for extra food. Her answer was for councils to set up stockpile hubs where people in need could get supplies they need for free.
Is panic-buying back?
Within days of the launch, Ocado shoppers found bottled water, batteries and baked beans out of stock, and the retailer said demand had risen over the weekend. Iceland said sales of tinned food rose by 40% that weekend, and Robert Dyas reported a 160% jump in radio sales on the week before. At Maplin, managing director Ollie Marshall said that torch sales nearly quadrupled and radio sales almost doubled in three days.
In London, much of that support would come from the 32 borough councils and the City of London, which would open rest centres, look after vulnerable residents and keep people informed in an emergency. Yet since the campaign was announced, London’s councils have said very little about it.
Residents in the city looking for advice from their council can most prominently find pages written before Be Ready existed. Islington does have an emergency checklist that asks families whether they can survive without power or water for three days, whether they know how to turn off their gas, water and electricity, and whether they know which neighbours might need extra help. The page was last updated in February 2025, and the emergency plan booklet it links dates to 2019.
The government War Book crisis plans are currently being updated for the first time in 22 years, with increased emphasis on aligning military and civilian efforts if international hostilities affect the UK. With the operation in the works, local councils soon might be able to share more information on what to do if confronted by war in London.
