Crisis What Crisis? Is my friend over doing the stockpiling and am I too? Continuation thread (2)

[RedToothBrush]

Continuation of the AIBU to think my friend is overdoing emergency stockpiling thread for discussion about the government advice to stockpile for an imminent emergency and what the heck that emergency might actually be.

I'm moving it over to chat from AIBU as it makes a bit more sense to be there at this point.

Previous thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5576816-aibu-to-think-my-friend-is-overdoing-emergency-stockpiling?page=1

Spoiler: it's more of a perfect storm of lots of factors coming together to potentially form one great clusterfuck from economic woes, global energy shortages (mainly diesel), potential food shortages, war and madmen to crazy weather patterns rather than a clear identifiable singular thread.

This is a practical thread and a bit of a handhold thread to make sense of events and how they may affect you. This is not an end of the world thread.

We are however going through a period where various governments throughout Europe think there is an elevated risk of some kind of problem due to global instability and we should start to get our heads around the possibility of needing to be ready for anything.

Remember an emergency can range from a temporary unexpected event to a much longer crisis but the underlying principles generally stay the same.

So this is for everything from tips and considerations about what might be a good idea to do /save minimise potential risks to just straight old political bollocks talk about how things are developing.

This is the official government information and advice, if you want further details on what the actual recommendations are:
https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk/get-prepared-for-emergencies/

This does actually explicitly say to write a personalised plan for your household which everyone knows and understands and to talk about the issues you may face to help you be able mobilise for any situation which might arise. Which is exactly what this thread is ultimately for.

No - business more or less as usual just with no online presence. Apparently all supply issues are now sorted. (They never closed, even in the early Covid days when the shelves were all but empty.)

They have something like 1000 stores across NL FWIW.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw8rzpl1ldkdo
A teenager who travelled from Norway to the UK to carry out a "hit" for an organised crime group has been sentenced to 20 years detention.

Johannes Natland, 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield with two working guns and 19 rounds of live ammunition in March 2025, the Old Bailey previously heard.

During his retrial, a jury heard the teen was "recruited" by the Foxtrot Network, which was described as a Swedish organised crime group backed by the Iranian regime.

This was in the Dutch national news yesterday: drone have been spotted on several occasions above the port of Eemshaven. Supposedly a larger drone which released smaller drones. The police are investigating. Apparently Eemshaven is home to lots of industry as well as essential infrastructure.

(As usual I’m sorry I don’t have a link; everything seems to be in Dutch at this stage. There’s more background given but it’s not really that relevant to most of us 😊)

That's scary 😨
My youngest ( but adult) dd has been having dreams about drone attacks on us. I've cut down on the prep talk as a result.

I've increased my fuel stocks to 50kg of coal. 20 nets of logs, and 8 bags of kindling.
I've got my smaller denomination cash, and had my flu jab.
That's this week's goals done.

And, for next week's preps, it's disposable plates, bowls and cups.
I need to sort out the first aid and meds, and fill any gaps there, although I already have quite a comprehensive stock.
A thought I had - if anyone is due/ overdue smear, mammogram, blood tests, seeing the gp about something niggly - get booked in!

Zelensky responded with a smile when a Sky News journalist asked whether Trump was trying to make him a “scapegoat” for his own problems, including low ratings, high diesel prices and the course of the war in the Middle East. The Ukrainian president initially remained silent, then smiled and replied: “That is my answer.”

He has also used the line
"Ukraine has the right to self defense" today too.

If you want to use chatgpt you can always post the link to the article and ask to summarize and translate to English.

I could translate it myself but I can’t be arsed 😜 I’m sorry, I can’t stand machine translations and would spend too long post-editing and sorting out the inevitable omissions/additions. Am certainly happy to post links though if people want to mess with it themselves. I think my brief description is probably enough though (although again, I’m naturally happy to provide sources!)

It’s not the first time we’ve had unexplained drones here and there, and if I’m not mistaken that’s the case with most of our neighbouring countries.

Some browsers will translate from a page in another language, I mean we could try from any link you want to post and see how we get on. I'm simply fascinated by other countries' views on what is going on.

Of course! From now on I’ll include the links.

I’m sorry for being a perfectionist on the language front haha. Obviously I also don’t want to spam the thread with news from a small and largely irrelevant country; it just seems to have been busy here lately!

Here’s something for those who are interested: https://www.denkvooruit.nl “Think Ahead” - the Dutch government’s disaster preparedness site for citizens.

DeepL is my online translator of choice; ymmv of course.

Edit: ooh look, they have an English-language section too! https://english.denkvooruit.nl

Obviously I also don’t want to spam the thread with news from a small and largely irrelevant country

I'm thinking the UK definitely fits that description these days! 😂

Southern Italy has a fuel crisis ongoing:

https://italien.news/en/traffic/fuel-crisis-in-calabria-and-apulia-gas-stations/

Cosenza – Empty gas stations and long lines are exacerbating the fuel crisis in Calabria and parts of Apulia. Many gas stations in Cosenza and Catanzaro have run out of gasoline and diesel. At the same time, further protests by transport companies and farmers are set to begin on Friday, October 16. The disruptions are thus affecting both private motorists and businesses that rely on regular deliveries.

A major contributing factor is the disruption of transportation routes at the Eni refinery in Taranto. There, protests related to the labor dispute at the former Ilva steel mill are blocking access for tanker trucks. The facility supplies not only Apulia, but also Basilicata and Calabria. Delayed deliveries are coinciding with a sharp rise in demand: out of concern for further disruptions, many drivers have filled up their tanks as a precaution.

The oil price has increased over 3% in the last hour. With this being a Friday, it makes me nervous that something is afoot.
@LCO.1: 109.31 +3.39 (+3.20%)

For anyone reading along and feeling overwhelmed: you don't need months of supplies. Most official advice is about coping for a few days. Start with water (a few litres per person per day), food you'd eat cold, torches, a power bank, cash, any regular medication and a written list of numbers. Then stop and get on with life. It's insurance, not a lifestyle.

Maybe read the thread before posting? Bit of an odd way to join us 🤨

I've just read the following:
Multiple mobile bomb shelters are now being rapidly deployed in Tel Aviv, Israel.

There are also movements of Iron Dome, US THAAD and David's Sling air defense batteries today, and in the past few days.

Similar preparations occurred in the days before February 28, when the war began.

And war monitoring accounts have been saying that there's been a large movement of US troops and lots of surveillance as there was in the days prior to previous attacks too. The noises seems to be that a weekend attack is more likely.

We shall see.

In Ukraine news

Q: If it wasn't you, then who gave the order for Starlink to go down in Ukraine?

TRUMP: I don't know

Well either you do and you are lying to cover. Or you aren't in control of the Pentagon. Which is it?

Can anyone recommend a fire proof box to keep mainly cash and maybe passports.
Thanks

Hmm

Thanks for the context @RedToothBrush I'll be frantically refreshing the news overnight.

Long time lurker delurking to thank RTB for starting another series of Very Useful Threads.

My contribution..

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/oct/15/the-guardian-view-on-food-security-we-have-just-in-time-we-need-just-in-case

There's also some links in this article to reports on UK food security that I found interesting, and I don't think they've been posted here yet:

https://nationalpreparednesscommission.uk/publications/just-in-case-7-steps-to-narrow-the-uk-civil-food-resilience-gap/

and

https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/17633/pdf/

I'm a born weirdo prepper, probably got it from my mum. She always had a larder stocked high with out of date tins "just in case". As a small child I made myself an emergency bag that I carried everywhere, it held a penknife, a torch, a jam sandwich and a tiny pencil and notebook to write secret messages "if I was kidnapped"

I grew up since then and generally less concerned about kidnappers (or apocalypses), but still carry a torch and snacks in my bag (I have allergies and can't just grab a quick sandwich anymore), I always keep a good stock of food at home (allergen free stuff is only randomly available in supermarkets), plus an allotment and lot of books on veg growing, foraging and preserving.

People in the UK seem to freak out over being told to have 2-3 days worth of food and basic supplies. How do you think they would respond if they were recommended to cope by themselves for longer than that.

Indeed. I'd suggest get 3 days, then keep working at it from that point if you have the space. Next aim for 5 days. Then 7. Three days of food won't really be enough if things really do go south, would be far better to have at least a week's worth, if you possibly can. If ever there was a time to put some food and water by, this is it. It's not a lifestyle, just common sense!

I’m no expert and I haven’t bothered to look it up (just being honest!) but I wonder if there even is such a thing at a reasonable price point? I used to work in an office where we had a fireproof filing cabinet and it was an absolutely massive heavy thing and unsurprisingly, enormously expensive. Unless you were talking about substantial amounts of cash - in which case a safety deposit box would be better I guess) I don’t know if it would be a reasonable investment?

Joe Barnes (Diplomatic Editor the Telegraph)
EXCLUSIVE: Elon Musk came to Donald Trump with the plan to throttle Ukraine’s use of SpaceX’s Starshield satellite internet network, sources have told the Telegraph.

The tech billionaire made the proposal during the US President’s row with Volodymyr Zelensky over strikes on Russian oil refineries.

‘The reality is that they were both in it,’ a senior source said of Musk’s and Trump’s involvement.

But after a night of carnage in Kyiv caused by the slowdown, Musk was alarmed about the possibility of adverse consumer reaction in Europe.

The SpaceX boss then proceeded to tweet, blaming the US administration, and ultimately, President Trump for authorising the slowdown.

‘He tweeted out that he was innocent and that it was the US administration that did it,’ the source said.