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

It's constantly on the news no wonder people get worried

I can confirm that not everywhere in Canada is so casual about snow. Here on south Van Island, we are NOT set up for snow, and the panic here is just the same as the uk. We tend to follow the same pattern of weather as the UK just about 2 wks behind. So we to will have endlessl ITS GOING TO SNOW!!! Updates. I await the chaos of mid-January.

We live rurally and while I always have a well-stocked pantry, we're frequently affected by power cuts during inclement weather.

Fortunately I've never experienced one that's lasted long enough to knock out the fridge or freezer entirely, but we have had a few that have lasted for 10 hours or so, so need to have 'raw' food to hand, as while we have open fires and oil-fuelled CH, our range is electric.

It's a pita Ne Scottish city, pavements not done, only main roads done just makes getting about really difficult and dangerous.
Couple of years ago our AE department was inundated with fractures due to icy pavements.

Probably the US which is due a significant polar vortex shortly.

So you stockpile but just gradually? People who can't afford to or don't have the space to do that will buy stuff today. So they're doing the same as you?

We got milk today but just went into the nearest shop and bought it, no supply issues.

🤣 My thoughts exactly! Would have loved a white Christmas but no!

I always have a well-stocked pantry and freezer because of being 9 miles from the nearest supermarket and 2 miles from the village shop. Having always lived in the countryside and remembering the blizzards of 1982 when we were without electricity, water etc for 6 days in 4’ of snow with 10’ drifts……

I don't think panic buying causes the problem. (Hence panic meaning folk going crazy buying up everything).

Generally supermarkets only have deliveries to meet their usual demand. When snow is forecast, if e.g 25% of morning shoppers choose to buy one extra milk carton to save them having to leave the house for a few days, that starts to create empty space on the shelf. Then when the afternoon shoppers go in, they notice that less milk is on the shelves and decide to buy one extra. By the time the evening shoppers get in, there is no milk left and word gets round that "everyone is panic buying" thus a frenzy is whipped up.

Same as covid, most folks were buying one extra pack of bog roll and the usual 'just in time' stock supplies went into meltdown.

I'm old enough to remember when snow was a common event. Somehow we survived.

I'm panicking a bit about the snow as I'm due to go on holiday on Sunday morning and we're forecast a lot of snow here overnight Saturday! Worrying that flights will be cancelled.

The article on BBC news about the pub stocking made me laugh, as they claim they get loads of extra custom if snow is forecast. Apparently people hope to get snowed in there.

www.irishcentral.com/culture/craic/storm-emma-2018-irish-reaction

Been there, done that, bought all the bread the T-shirt.

Skiing on the Alps? (Light-hearted).
@Toddlerteaplease I saw that and have a vague recollection of the previous news report back when.
Being forewarned is forearmed. Lots of firewood food and booze. And camaraderie in the local. That's one way to wait for a thaw (as long as no other commitments like family and work).

Damn! My supermarket delivery is scheduled for Sunday morning (I booked it before Christmas) so I guess I’ll end up with lots of missing items. I hadn’t given it much thought beyond returning early from dropping DC back at uni tomorrow to beat the weather.

People are just so eager to catastrophise -the BBC love to drum up a good ‘crisis’. Have a friend who is constantly on the edge of anxiety because she watches the BBC news all the time.

Beautiful area! I work in a village there occasionally and they’ve talked about the snow and how cut off it gets. I f I lived there I absolutely world be panic buying.

i live in a town, a walk away from three large supermarkets so I don’t need to. Having said that there are many who also might be shopping for elderly or sick relatives who won’t be able to get food in should the snow get bad.

For snow, most people should have the basics of tinned soup (warming), bread (gluten), milk (calcium) and toilet roll (absorbent). On top of this I like to have extra crossword puzzles in to keep the mind active and Himalayan salt for the driveway if the car is needed in an emergency. I also have a copy of the radio times in case the internet goes down. These are basics which of course you can add to. Good luck everyone.

Coffee and toast. If the power goes down, I can make coffee and toast on the log burner. Add in a tin of beans, and that's breakfast & lunch sorted. 😊

I have drinks that don’t need milk - cappuccino sachets, fruit teas, squash, booze….

But I buy stuff at times when others don’t.

There’s a difference between a small number of people buying additional items on each day of the year, and all those people going to the shops looking to buy the same items on just one-two days. Retail systems are set up for the former but typically not for the latter.

I’m with PP - we don’t live anywhere particularly exposed and we are in a city with shops nearby. We’re a family of five. I have one cupboard set aside for pasta, rice, oats, tinned fish, jam, tinned fruit, UHT milk, crackers and similar bought over a long period, which would keep us out of the shops for several days at least, plus obviously whatever happened to be in the fridge, freezer and cupboard when whatever crisis hit.

This 100%. During the pandemic, they proclaimed that they were stockpiling, not panic-buying…

Because the news panics people. The fuss over this incoming snow on the national news is madness.

It's not because of the snow, it's this country's reaction to it. We never seem to be prepared and the roads are not cleared. So people panic.

I was partly raised in Germany and we just got on with it but the roads were cleared and the stores were fully stocked.