Why do people panic buy bread when it snows

[Plun]

There is more food than bread. Yet bready things like English muffins and crumpets don’t get a look in.

Plus tins of soup. Don’t people have store cupboards anymore? I have enough food in for about a month. Though run out of FnV but at the end of the period, it will be any food for any meal

Last night I watched a tv documentary on BBC4 from the 1960s about the Big Freeze of 62/63. Anyone who is mid 60s or older will remember this. Devon, Dorset and Cornwall were the worst affected. 14ft snow drifts, villages completely cut off.

People now can’t cope with a single snowflake ❄️

I was in school in the late 70s and 80s which shut during snow. The issue now has nothing to do with “snowflake” generations, it’s because back in the day, most teachers lived locally so schools could open. That said, many schools were closed during the “Big Freeze”

Up in the North East of Scotland, schools are shut today because there isn’t enough teaching staff who can get there to keep them open. If the police advice is do not travel unless necessary, they cannot insist staff come in, and nor should they. The often choose not to open because if the weather gets worse, and they can’t get all the kids home, that’s a problem.

This whole narrative of how boomers had it worse and did it better is absolute nonsense. If that is the case, why are they still harping on about these big events? If they just got through them like it was every other day, why 60 years later are they still banging on about it? I guess the 120 people who died as a direct result of the cold, and the 89,000 excess deaths that year was just another winter for them?

The reason people stock up on bread is, if you are unable to get to the shops (as we were for a week in 2018 during the “Beast from the East”) Then knowing you have a couple of loaves of bread in the freezer means you can at least do the “xxx on toast” meals, or make sandwiches when the power goes out. We had no bread at that time, but thankfully my neighbour had plenty in their freezer and let us have some. Now, if there is a weather warning for snow, I will always check we have enough in the freezer. You don’t get blocked in on the first day of a bad snowfall. It can creep up on you, often overnight. That’s why it is important to be prepared.

Not very perishable - they’ll both last a week easily, more usually. That’s why they get bought - they’re perishable enough that you tend to need to get them fairly regularly and you don’t keep them in a store cupboard for months on end. But they’re not so delicate that they’ll go off in a couple of days and therefore be useless.

There aren’t many occasions people are snowed in for more than a week.

Well i think people are just being dramatic at the minute lol I live in southern Ireland hardly get any bad snow ever and none forecasted,went to Tesco yesterday afternoon and only about 10 loaves of bread on the shelves ?? Hardly any beans or spaghetti either..didn't notice soups in fairness but people are absolutely crazy lol

OH is back from the shops with yeast and bread flour.

We have road works near us (burst frozen water pipes or some such drama) and he says it was carnage out there and in the supermarket. He’s now too exhausted to make the bread

I always say that if we didn't have any power, we could live happily on cereal and sandwiches, so I always have bread and milk in the freezer at this time of year. I also make sure that we have plenty of cheese and crackers.

I have a seige mentality, due to growing up on a rural farm which could be cut off for days. My mum always had cupboards full of tins, and I do the same. But while there is plenty of soup, beans, spaghetti etc, we wouldn't be able to cook it without power. I do have a small camping stove purely for severe power cuts, but haven't used it for several years now.

A lot of people can't imagine life without tea or coffee either, hence the milk. I don't drink tea and have a Tassimo machine, so only need my milk for my cereal.

I remember it well, I was 7. We visited granny on Boxing Day and left earlier than planned because it had started to snow and my DPs were worried that the trains might stop running if it got worse (which it did). By the next morning, everything was white and frozen.

We couldn't take the normal route to school for several days, as it involved going across a park and the snow was too deep. We went via the roads, and had to walk in the roads themselves, which had been cleared, because the council had piled all the snow from roads along the kerbs. The banks of cleared snow were higher than I was tall!

We lived in a badly maintained rented flat with no bathroom and the water in the outside bog and cistern froze. The bog had to be flushed with very hot water, poured in slowly. We had several burst pipes and I can remember my DF making small slits in one of the ceilings to let the water out, rather than letting it build up and possibly bring the ceilings down. The cat refused to go outside for a pee and my DPs had to improvise a litter tray. We had several power cuts, but thankfully had open fires and a solid fuel boiler that heated the water. They'd also had a coal delivery a few days before Christmas, so we had plenty of fuel.

There were still remnants of frozen snow in the park well into the spring term, possibly up to Easter itself. It seemed to go on for ever.

Bread can do breakfast, lunch or dinner, goes with everything, lasts a week, and can be eaten hot or cold. It's the obvious first choice.

I think it's probably bad timing with the snow this year for a lot of people. I'd normally have several loaves in the freezer over winter, but ran stocks down to fill the freezer with xmas food, and then the snow hit before I managed to refill.

Also, the schools aren't closed "at the first drop of snow". The areas with closed schools in NE Scotland have horrendous driving conditions, and the worst snow for years. It is a meter deep in places, and people are getting trapped in the snow and needing tractors to dig them out all over the place. Drifts have been re-blocking the roads five minutes after the ploughs pass. There is no way the teachers could make it through to my local school unless they lived within walking distance.

As do hospital staff, Police officers, retail and hospitality workers etc etc If they can all make it into work why can't teachers ?

Well they might not actually make it to work if the roads are unsafe, unless you expect them to walk to work.

Many teachers now live at a distance from their school and could not get in to work. The same for a lot of children who have to be ferried on school buses or by taxi. If the transport can't run, they can't get to school. Bread and milk are staples which people buy in case deliveries are held up. Haven't seen any panic buying.

Well that's the 21st century for you.

If you've got that option, I don't blame you one bit. Bit different to teaching though.

My high and upper schools were 5 miles and 10 miles away. We did have a school bus. If that didn’t turn up, then there would be no bus on the journey home. Both my parents worked. If parents decided to take their DC, they needed to collect them.

It’s a light spatter not even an inch and the schools have closed. Hysteria

Except many of them can't make it into work. I used to work retail and my commute was 45 minutes over mountain roads - I never went in when it snowed.

Exactly. Drove past my local school and I'm rural. Full car park. Once you hit the main roads it's fine.

Where i live we have had quite a lot of snow and black ice and the council very kindly didnt do much gritting. A lot of major roads are closed as cars cannot get over the bridges. Slipping and sliding and couldnt get traction.

The road outside my DDs school has a bridge that is controlled by lights so that will be interesting tomorrow (they are off today due to being a planned inset day)i know that a lot of cars got stuck as they were at the top being stopped by the lights then couldnt get going again when the lights went green.

Personally i think they will close tomorrow as the roads are treacherous due to not being gritted.

It was the best fun!!!!!

Yep we have never had a snow day yet had a few when I was a kid in the 90s

If I know it's going to snow I get extras in before it starts. This off course means bread and milk as well. I have a disability but carnt drive due to the disability and I'm not going to risk falling in the ice and snow, this could mean a break or massive brusing. If this upsets op then so be it

I know it comes with so many risks, so many difficulties. But I sometimes dream of a big freeze so that we can just stay at home and hibernate.

There are places outside the SE though 😅

That said, I just looked it up and they changed it last year because not enough teachers lived near a school any more. It was a working system for 14 years though.

https://www.scotborders.gov.uk/winter-weather/schools-winter-advice/4

That said, I just looked it up and they changed it last year because not enough teachers lived near a school any more. It was a working system for 14 years though.

Am I right in thinking there are no academies in Scotland? That's the main reason why it wouldn't work in England.

Yanbu OP. Every autumn I buy a few cartons of UHT milk, and some extra tins. I don't need to worry about bread because I buy wholemeal flour by the sack, and enough dried yeast to last a few months so we always have bread (and it's less expensive).

We could last maybe three weeks on our stocks. If the tins aren't needed, we use them in the spring. It's simple and costs very little.

I saw some Venezuelans queuing on the news and trolleys were full of toilet rolls!