Government publishes national risk register with 95 risks

The Government published the national risk register on 14 July 2026, a version of the national security risk assessment that lists 95 risks in total, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Darren Jones, told the Commons in the annual national resilience statement¹. The register summarises all but the most sensitive, classified risks¹.

The statement set out several strands of work alongside the register. The Government is launching a call for views on the implementation review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, to gather evidence from across the resilience community on where it may need updating¹. It will also launch a national resilience public awareness campaign later this year, and publish an energy resilience strategy and a transport resilience strategy later this year¹. On defence, Jones said spending will rise to almost £80 billion a year by 2029, and that plans will be tested through the largest UK home defence exercise in several decades in 2027¹. The biological security strand includes a network of national biosecurity centres backed by £1.83 billion of investment, a new pandemic preparedness strategy supported by an additional £1 billion in health protection measures, and a commitment that by 2030 the UK is resilient against a spectrum of biological threats¹.

Jones described the risk picture in the statement, citing conflict in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine as exposing vulnerabilities in global energy supply chains, and artificial intelligence as bringing threats if weaponised by criminals for hostile cyber-attacks against businesses and critical infrastructure¹. He also cited record UK temperatures in May, exceeded again in June, and the spread of high-consequence infectious diseases, naming highly pathogenic avian influenza, Ebola and Andes hantavirus as examples from recent months¹.

The statement also described the purpose of the coming awareness campaign, to inform the public of the small but important steps they can take to be prepared in case of emergencies and disruption, "be that severe weather or a cyber-attack which can impact access to power, water, phone signal or local shops to get food"¹. Jones said the storms earlier this year showed that extreme weather events can cause significant and prolonged disruption to the essential services on which people rely¹.

Why it matters for households

The register is the Government's public summary of the risks it assesses as facing the UK, and the statement names the kinds of disruption households can face: severe weather, and cyber-attacks affecting access to power, water, phone signal or local shops to get food¹. The awareness campaign announced for later this year is intended to set out the small steps the public can take to be prepared¹. The call for views concerns the legislative framework under which local responders plan and prepare, which the statement says has supported a consistent, co-operative approach across the UK for over two decades¹. The energy and transport resilience strategies, due later this year, concern the security of the systems households depend on¹. The statement does not give a date for the campaign or the strategies beyond "later this year", and no detail of the register's individual risk entries is given in it¹.

The register and its supplementary guidance are published on gov.uk¹. How to read the register is set out in the guide to the National Risk Register: what it says and how to read it, and the wider picture of government planning is covered in UK preparedness and the UK Government Resilience Framework and Action Plan. The statement also refers to long-term pressures on services, covered in chronic risks, and to the coming public campaign, covered in Be Ready: the national resilience campaign.

What happens next

The call for views on the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 implementation review is open, with no closing date given in the statement¹. The national resilience public awareness campaign, the energy resilience strategy and the transport resilience strategy are all due later this year¹. The largest UK home defence exercise in several decades is planned for 2027¹. The biological security commitments run to 2030¹.