So, do we think something is coming?

[Preppyprepper]

I'm not a commited prepper. I was one of the first in my circle to get that Covid was coming, as I read the news (several papers + BBC + social media) obsessively, and did a bit then. With the news at the moment, I'm getting a bit of deja vu.
Do you think something (not sure what, WW3, a cyber attack, whatever) is coming in the next few months? I've made a plan of what to buy in the coming months each payday (camp stove, battery powered radio) but can't decide if I'm being ridiculous, or just reacting to the increasingly unnerving news.

I'm in a job (healthcare, medic) where I was 'on the ground' in Covid, on stand by to go work in the temporary hospitals etc, so wouldn't be able to just wait it out at home, probably. Am I just a bit paranoid?

Its because the electricity grid is like a big loop and so unless you are fully off grid (which would mean you could never use electricity from the grid) then if your panels generated in a power cut then the power would feed back into the grid and electrocute the engineers trying to fix the problem. So they are capable of working in a power cut in theory but for this to happen you have to have a switch to isolate the power from the grid. It costs a few thousand pounds so most people don't do it. It also generally would only power one socket so again that means people don't tend to opt for it because it isn't worth the cost.

I have a science degree and I didn't know that either? Can't they power themselves or their battery?

No, not unless you have an isolator switch or are off grid. We have a full solar set up with two large batteries and by law they have to be set up so that they cant feed back into the grid. The only way it works is if you have a tesla power wall which has its own inbuilt isolator system.

Ah yes that was it @Legoandloldolls thank you go explaining very clearly! He did say, we could do it but it would only power one socket

sorry, edit to tag the correct person @Kelta

I think it's sensible to be prepared, it does feel like disruption of some form is coming and to be fair.... it's inevitable really. It doesn't have to be WW3.... something is always coming whether it's power cuts, flooding, strikes, food inflation, fuel shortages, illness etc etc.

We try to strike a balance between preparing but not panicking. We have two water butts and a life straw for filtering water so in an extreme situation could survive but that's because we use the water butts for our garden and the life straw if we are hiking. We also have a small wind up radio and torch, plus a couple of power banks which are useful for camping.

Fortunately we have a garage so do keep stocks of extra food in....enough to last a week or two but only things we use so it is mainly pasta, tinned pulses, cereal, tinned tomatoes (and wine!). Plus if I see meat on yellow sticker I'll put it in our spare freezer in the garage. I use it as a back up shop so if I run out of baked beans for example I'll go to the garage and get our spare tins from there, then replace the stock the next time I shop. That way it's constantly rotated and nothing goes out of date.

What has changed recently is I'm not letting the car get too low on fuel and I've stashed some spare cash in the house just in case of widespread banking disruption. DH and I purposefully use separate banks so that our money is spread around a few providers.

yes - you have t get them to do a specific change in the Normal set up to be able to use them if the grid is down. We’ve done it. If you contact the installers, they may be able to change it for you.

Hello, I’ve just seen there’s going to be a mega elmino this year which could affect food.

does anyone know more about it?

@Celiathebanshee you’re correct - most household solar is grid-tied. You need to be able to store and generate a lot of energy and have the setup able to regulate the energy flow. So, think big batteries and 25+ solar panels.

You may still struggle to heat a property or boil water in a kettle as those are so power-hungry but you might keep one room warm and use your camping gas to boil water.

El Niño is a weather pattern that comes every few years. My brain is fried today but I think it’s one that involves more stormy systems so kore potential for disruption.

I think the Middle East situation is going to have a bigger impact on the food system, tbh. Reduced availability of fertiliser to help grow the crops, increased cost of oil and diesel including for farming and transport, and further increased costs due to some major shipping routes being closed.

I don’t necessarily think we will run OUT of food - but it will get a lot more expensive and we may have reduced choices due to the combination of reduced yields and high costs.

There are some good videos on YouTube about the super El Niño. That and fertiliser shortages combined are not a good combination.

Watching weather videos, political analysis, general world news, and prepping videos (eg city pepper who looks at US news sources) gives you a good overview of what's likely.

Thanks for correcting my spelling!

I saw this via new scientist I think so not a random rumour

I think it sounds like it will affect a lot of things next year from my limited understanding

I'll be honest I've been feeling the same and have been quietly beginning to add a bit here and there to the food shops.

The Guardian had an article today.

Nit entirely sure about the usefulness of the eggs in the car boot.

www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/09/worried-britons-prepping-for-major-disruption-with-stash-of-tins-and-cash-survey-shows

El Niño:

Prep for hot weather. (Lots of previous threads on this if you look back through the board.)

This might cause power cuts.

Drought and fertiliser issues may cause reduced wheat yields and other crop yields in the UK.

Drought in India. (Rice?)

70% of US farmers (who responded to a survey, so not necessarily 70% of all of them) have not got enough fertiliser this year.

Grow your own food. (Anything you like/conditions for) You can grow in pots but they require watering. Potatoes are easy.

Yes we grow potatoes in buckets or old bags for life every year. I've only got 6 containers this year which wouldn't keep us fed for long but it's something!

I’ve spent some time on chat gtp asking key questions about risks in Uk and it’s been useful to hone in on what might be worth stocking up on

That's interesting, what was the general summary of your findings?

I don’t totally like chat gtp as different inputs can get different outputs and it fills in gaps with made up stuff (called hallucinations) so it’s just a guide from which to do further searches or makes outright mistakes (errors.)

one output concluded as below:

Here’s a practical £50 anti-inflation pantry built around cheap calories, decent protein, and foods that store well. The aim is not gourmet eating — it’s 2–3 weeks of flexible, low-cost meals for one person, or a strong base for a household. I’m leaning toward the kinds of staples that have historically held value better than fresh convenience foods. Recent UK tracking still shows ongoing pressure on pasta, eggs, chocolate, oils and other staples, so buying durable basics remains one of the better hedges.

Item

Approx. quantity

Rough target spend

Rice

5 kg

£7.50

Pasta

4 x 500 g

£2.80

Porridge oats

2 kg

£2.40

Dried red lentils

2 kg

£4.00

Dried chickpeas or mixed beans

1 kg

£2.00

Baked beans

8 tins

£4.80

Chopped tomatoes

8 tins

£4.80

Passata

4 cartons

£2.80

Peanut butter

1 kg total

£3.50

Vegetable oil

1 litre

£2.20

UHT milk

6 litres

£6.00

Eggs

15 medium

£3.50

Frozen mixed vegetables

3 kg total

£4.80

Onions

2 kg

£1.80

Garlic

3 bulbs

Target total: about £49.80–£50.80,

Why these make sense now

• Rice, oats, pasta, lentils = the cheapest reliable calorie base.
• Tinned tomatoes, beans, passata = shelf-stable flavour and protein.
• Frozen veg often gives better value than fresh when prices get volatile.
• Eggs and UHT milk add useful protein without relying on expensive meat.
• Oil and peanut butter matter because fats are expensive to replace once prices rise.

Cheap meal combinations from this pantry
You can rotate a lot from this without getting repetitive:

• Lentil tomato dal + rice
• Pasta with tomato, garlic and beans
• Chickpea stew + rice
• Oats + peanut butter
• Egg fried rice with frozen veg
• Tomato lentil soup
• Beans on toast (if you add bread weekly rather than stockpile it)

I would bet that none of the above is different to what is regularly posted on mn!

I’m just using this a a basic guide and will build a pantry around what my family use most of.

It goes on a bit about the rest. Basic most useful summary

That makes sense, thanks for such a detailed reply.

The full reply goes on a lot. It’s worth playing around with it for your own circumstances but in the knowledge that it’s not a holy grail.

Having spent my childhood in the middle of the countryside where we could get snowed in etc my sisters and I always have well-stocked pantries and rotate longer-life supplies. When COVID hit we had a 4-way conversation with our parents and we (naturally and without buying any in early 2020) had over 350 toilet rolls between us. I didn't buy any through the first 2 lockdowns.

My DH who previously sighed about my unnecessary stock levels and 'food security issues' has stopped commenting now.

I've let my supplies dwindle a little since then but with everything going on in the world I'm making sure to rotate out the older stuff. So the long-life milk is going into porridge this week (as the heatwave is over and it's cold) and was replaced in my shop today. I buy bottled water (for the snake my DD's rescued) and keep a pack ahead of his needs, so we'd have some for us in an emergency.

We've already stocked up this winter's wood for the woodburner (clean air act compliant before anyone comments) and have both gas canister and petrol peak stoves because DH is an outdoorsy type who loves his coffee.

I filled up DH’s diesel from half full last night as I was doing a couple of jobs before I leave again this morning. Got home to news of Trump threatening the Iranian negotiators so they walked away. I will be filling my car with petrol (just below half full) tonight when I get back to my current city.

I also need to book some flights for autumn - and am debating booking ferry for Christmas before it’s very expensive.