People panicking because of snow

[Cuffi]

When snow is forecasted in the weather, people go mad, panic buy.

If you are planning to stay at home regardless of the weather, you are not going to eat more as it’s snowing! Maybe 2-4 extra cups of tea or coffee? It doesn’t warrant the need to clear the shelves of tinned soups and UHT milk!

Besides where I live the snow would be melted by mid Sunday and temps are going up to 9c.

These people need to look at themselves as they look soft

And as it's expected, the roads should be gritted in good time

I’m in an area that regularly gets snow but the gritter doesn’t make it to our street until at least three days after the main routes cease to need gritting. The council did supply us with a large bag of salt in October but half of that was used when we had several days of snow in November.

Same here. I didn’t realise this was the reason. I wouldn’t mind but we’re in a big town in the South East

Farmers might be a bit more reluctant to help out with ploughing and gritting this year….

How does gritting stop the snow??

Reading this thread has made me more concerned about the upcoming cream egg shortage.

I was at Sainsburys this morning to do my weekly shop. Definitely not panic buying, never occurred to me as I live in a medium sized town so unlikely to get cut off. But I always do my weekly shop on Friday, actually buying less than usual as there are still leftovers in the freezer.

Anyway, two things I noticed:

• Actually seemed less busy than most Fridays here
• Not only were creme eggs on the shelf but the bakery were definitely making hot cross buns, the smell was unmistakable

And round here they've removed about 75% of the grit bins including from areas with steep slopes and known skid issues in the cold.

A few years ago we had cars (and buses) all over the road and pavement on the road down to three schools and all the grit bins (there used to be 6 along the road) had been taken out. It was only luck that meant a child didn't get hit - and thanks to the householders who brought their own grit out.
I (and others) wrote to the council who said "it wasn't on their priority list".

Salt melts it and the sand/grit in the mix helps provide traction.

Amazingly, Waitrose have it 70p off - at £1.50

It doesn't. But salt melts snow and it allows traction for vehicles.

Hmmm, I don’t know. I have a 12 day old baby, can’t drive as I had an emergency section and there isn’t even a shop in my village. My house isn’t the warmest so I’m a little worried about keeping my newborn comfortable. I’m a bit nervous about going out for walks locally in icy conditions as I’m still in pain and a bit anaemic and wobbly as I lost quite a bit of blood at delivery, but my dog will still need to be walked. DP will be back to work in a few days when his PL ends.

I’m sure we will get through it just fine, and I won’t be panic-buying anything but I will admit I’m a little anxious about snow/ice for the first time in my life.

I went shopping today and it was like Hell on Earth. Car park was jam packed and it was busy but no evidence of panic buying. Plenty of stock on the shelves, didn't see anyone with 10 loaves of bread or anything.
We are down South though and snow is supposed to be minimal so I assume everyone was out shopping before the kids go back to school not because of a snow day.

youre missing the key bit though

people don't eat more due to snow. But if your supermarket can't restock because deliveries can't get through, if your power goes out and you have tinned food, you'll be glad of it.

I don't agree with stripping the shelves but I can see why people want to stock up.

I don't have the space for a massive store, I live in a small one bed. So I have extra in case I get ill etc (I live alone). But for snow, an extra loaf and milk? Sure. Makes sense.

Sainsbury also on offer at an even better £1.45 with a nectar card.

It's not just about snow though, at least not here, it's the flood afterwards with the thaw. We had to cancel NYE plans to get the sandbags out and prep the house as we got a warning. We don't take it lightly as we've only just recovered from the last floods. The rivers are high here and the ground sodden. A high snow than thaw off the hills is gonna cause issues.

Since the last floods we've made sure we have a store upstairs along with other camping gear to make sure we have heat and food available. Best believe I grabbed a couple of uht milks and an extra loaf of bread.

I am a carer for family but live some distance away, I need to make sure the frail people I care for have supplies so they are not tempted to go out and get them. If the snow goes quickly, great...if not, I know they are OK and do not need to risk an accident when going to get supplies. Practical and considerate risk management!

Well you may well eat a loaf of extra bread if you have power cuts. Looks like there's amber weather warnings for some areas which will indeed warn of power cuts so sensible to stock up for a few days. If people did t do it and had no food someone would be saying it's their own fault for not heeding the weather warning so people can't win really.

@Cuffi where are you? Shopping?

Gardengirl108
Ah, thank you. I don't have a Sainsburys near me, unfortunately.

I get this. If you’re remote you need to make sure you have the food in.

If you’re in a major city (Newcastle here) then it’s not too bad. No need to clear shelves of the loo rolls.

Having said that I now feel the need to buy at least two boxes, possibly three, of crème eggs tomorrow. Just in case the fog on the tyne turns feral.

After reading the weather forecast, I went to the supermarket after work, quite sensibly I thought, to stock up on a few necessary items. But the supermarket was full of idiots mindlessly "panic buying", so it took ages. It really annoyed me.

All the stupid “Breaking News” alerts the BBC send me (that are nowhere near breaking news) and they can’t even be bothered to let people know actual important things like the crème eggs thing.

I'll get the packs of pate and the part baked rolls out of the freezer, I also have two big boxes of Bendicks mints so I'll not starve.

Isn’t it just really post Christmas food shopping though? We’ve not done a big shop since before Christmas, so our supplies on everything except toblerone are low. So we will do a big shop tomorrow, getting ready for getting back to work and normal next week. Expecting snow in the next few days (we’ve already had some this week), and the roads around us are a nightmare when it has been snowing, so yes, likely to buy an extra loaf of bread and carton of milk for the freezer as these are the things we usually need to top up on during the week. We had snow a month or so ago, and the bus service across the city came to a halt, and cars were stuck all around where we live.

Completely in favour of having a well stocked store cupboard and toilet rolls, toiletries etc. (I get those on a regular order from Amazon so never run out) but I’m not going to fill valuable freezer space with bread and milk all year round ‘just in case’. Panic buying to me is 15 loaves, 20 pints and 10 packets of pasta.

Well bully for you. Where my son lives even a few inches will mean the two small local sized Tesco and Coop will rapidly run out of staples like bread and milk. There's two roads in and out and one is very steep and gets closed off snd even if the other is open it might not get supplies.
Stop being so insular and think that not everyone has a hoard of food just in case. No one will starve, but getting in supplies multiplied by the town's population and things run out quickly.