National Risk Register Updated. Democratic Interference and Cyber Attacks Added as UK Threats

The government updated the National Risk Register on 14 July 2026, adding seven new risks to the official list of threats facing the UK. Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones announced the changes in the annual Resilience Statement to Parliament, citing the pace of climate change, the growing sophistication of AI enabled cyber attacks, and rising concern over foreign interference in democratic processes.

The National Risk Register is the government's public facing version of the National Security Risk Assessment. It is a planning tool for emergency professionals and local authorities, not a forecast and is updated periodically to reflect the changing threat landscape.

The most significant new entry is the risk of interference in the UK's democratic process. The government said its inclusion follows protective measures announced the previous week, including tougher checks on company donations to political parties and a cap on overseas donations.

Six further risks have been added. They cover cyber attacks on data infrastructure, water infrastructure, and police systems. The rapid growth of AI is identified as a driver, making attacks more sophisticated and their potential reach wider. A category called "digital resilience failure" has also been included, drawing explicitly on lessons from the Crowdstrike IT outage of July 2024, which disrupted critical systems across multiple sectors internationally.

One risk has been removed. Disruption to Russian gas supplies no longer features on the register. The government said this reflects the UK's reduced reliance on Russian gas since the full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The government announced it will launch a national public resilience campaign later in 2026. It will build on the GOV.UK Prepare website, which already provides guidance on preparing households for emergencies including flooding, power cuts, and cyber attacks.

The campaign will include dedicated resources for schools and colleges. Jones said the initiative would bring the UK "in line with European peers," most of which run comparable programmes already. The campaign is intended to help people take practical steps checking flood risk, noting emergency phone numbers, testing smoke alarms before an emergency occurs, freeing up emergency services to focus on the most vulnerable.

Regional and local mayors will also be given a formalised role in local resilience under proposals being consulted on from 14 July 2026. Currently, Local Resilience Forums are the main structure at sub-national level. The consultation on the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 explores how regional mayors could work alongside those existing bodies. The government said it considers the Act broadly fit for purpose, the review fulfils a statutory duty to assess the legislation periodically.

Under the Home Defence Programme, the government is updating classified crisis plans known as the War Books documents that guide departments through how to respond to serious threats against the UK. They were last updated in 2004, more than two decades ago.

The UK will also hold its largest home defence exercise in decades in 2027. Named Operation ALBISTON SHADOW, the multi day exercise will involve ministers and hundreds of officials from across government and the public sector. The precise scenario will remain classified, but the exercise is designed to test the UK's preparedness for hybrid attacks. It will run alongside a NATO exercise known as CMX27, with the government saying the two drills will help keep UK planning aligned with allies.

Jones also provided an update on the UK's 2023 Biological Security Strategy. Departments are on course to deliver all medium term commitments by 2028. Those commitments include a new Pandemic Preparedness Strategy backed by around £1 billion in health protection funding, and a Network of National Biosecurity Centres supported by £1.83 billion.

Both programmes were described as on track.

The updated register, the home defence exercise, and the resilience campaign together point to a broader shift in how the government is framing national preparedness, widening it from an internal planning function for professionals to something the public is expected to actively engage with. The GOV.UK Prepare website is live. The Civil Contingencies Act consultation opened on 14 July 2026.