Britain’s food supply system is facing growing risks from extreme weather, cyber-attacks, energy disruption and disease outbreaks, with a government watchdog warning that preparations for a major crisis remain insufficient.

The National Audit Office (NAO) said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has taken steps to strengthen food-supply resilience but has not done enough to prepare the country for a potentially catastrophic disruption.

The UK is particularly exposed because it relies on both domestic production and imported food. The NAO says the country's food self-sufficiency ratio was around 60% in 2025, while food is classified as one of the UK's 13 critical national infrastructure sectors.

The watchdog also found that the most recent national exercise specifically testing a catastrophic food-supply disruption took place in 2023. It said government planning has not yet been sufficiently tested with food businesses and other key supply-chain participants.

The warning does not mean Britain is currently facing a food shortage. Instead, it highlights the need for stronger emergency planning as climate and other risks become more severe and interconnected.