UK to warn citizens to stock up on food

[TheNoonBell]

As there is already a thread on chat I thought I would link it here as it will drop off the other board.

Original thread: www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5570978-hm-gov-telling-us-to-get-tinned-food-and-bottled-water

Link: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/aug/25/uk-to-warn-citizens-to-stock-up-on-food-amid-threat-from-climate-crisis-and-hostile-states

Time to get in the winter supplies now before the candles and lanterns sell out. Very impressed with the new USBC Blukar battery lanterns after testing them this summer: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blukar-Camping-Rechargeable-Lantern-Essentials/dp/B0GVNKNM6C

Yes I have 3 months supply of both dog and cat food but I can only get my medication once a month on my prescription. How can anyone get more than a month's supply at a time?

I ordered 2 months worth of cat food, then she died. My 18,5 year old Queen.She was supposed to live forever.

I will give it away, but have not been able to quite yet.

So sorry to hear that! 💔

I was thinking of OTC basics like painkillers, antihistamine etc but yes, that's a good point. I'm asthmatic but can't order another inhaler until my current one is close to empty.

Order meds slightly early each month, every month. Depends on your GP practice.

Stock up for:
Storms/snow/heatwave for when it is advisable not to go out.
Flooding which may block your route to the shops/out of your area.
Power cuts.
Water cuts. (Burst pipe, off for maintenance, contamination)
Mix up with your wages/benefits/banking
Illness.
Bereavement.

Have a means of cooking or heating water. (BBQ/camping stove/sun oven, if you have outdoor space) Or eat cold foods.

Eat cold foods:
Crackers, rice cakes, bread sticks, oats. (Add powdered milk and soak) Rice pudding Go Noodles
tinned fruit, beans (of you like them cold) precooked sweetcorn, dried fruit (sultanas, dates, raisins apricots, various packs from Aldi)
Jars of pickled onion, cabbage, beetroot ,olives,
Nuts, peanut butter, sardines, mackerel, tuna, seeds
Jam, honey, sugar. (Add to rice pudding etc)
Biscuits, chocolate, crisps, sweets for treats, energy and morale.

Add hot water food:
Microwave rice, couscous, noodles, mug shots, cupsoup.

Heat through on a stove:
Tinned soups, curries, tinned veg, custard, baked beans, rice pudding,etc.

Yes millions of people have monthly prescriptions so how can you stockpile medicine?

My elderly relatives all have automatic ones set up that are then delivered.

This is a good excuse to begin stashing Christmas treats away in a cupboard....under the guise of prepping.

On a more serious note, our solar panel system has an isolated plug we can use in a power cut. I'd assume that's a feature of most systems so anyone with solar panels will have some power.

Unopened freezers can stay cold for over 24 hrs and you could then eat that food first....assuming you could cook it (we have a camping stove).

I think this is more about them anticipating some localised supply issues relating to reduced crops and low reservoirs. I know in our area they are already needing to use tankers to transfer between reservoir areas so this could cause short term supply issues.

Lots of people keep very little food in their homes so having some emergency tins is probably not a bad idea.

Mine are also delivered but in a prolonged emergency situation I'm not sure meds would be delivered.

The commentary I have been seeing more recently has been around being able to manage yourself and your family for 3 days - to allow the authorities to triage the situation and look after those that cannot look after themselves as a priority.

One interesting point about food and “long life, eat cold, only need hot water foods” etc is to remember to eat what is most perishable from your fridge and then your freezer before digging into your longer term stocks.

What I have found useful, both camping and in longer power cuts, is to grab my hard sided cooler and put the things that get used a LOT (milk, butter, cheese, ham, salad things, eggs, jam, etc) from the fridge, and to open the freezer ONCE to take out a sauc-y dinner (spag Bol, curry etc) and some meat - basically 2 dinners to defrost slowly but also act as iceblocks to cool down the other bits. The idea is to limit the amount of times I need to open fridge and freezer for the next couple of days, so keeping both as cold as possible - and use the cooler as the temporary active fridge but also have something in there to keep things cool. It does help quite a bit.

@caringcarerpresumably not

I recommend watching 'blackout' on YouTube, the British version think it was channel 4 originally.

Its a good example of what not to do especially where generators are concerned

Prepping on a tight budget seems daunting, but add an extra tin or packet when you go to the shop. Value brands are just as good as named

That is so sad but a cat charity would be so glad of it. Maybe over time you can give a good home to a rescue cat whose owner has died.

My DS says Mum if we get attacked me and my friends are all coming to your house because I prep well and have good storage space. During COVID I even had a bottle of Calpol to send through the post to my DD for her DC as she couldn't get any.

So clearly everyone has cut back because we are all piss poor and the government need people panic buying.

This. I don't have the mental energy for these things anymore. If the worst happens, whatever.

If you no money and no storage space just think about the most basic things. Candel, matches, two bags of pasta, four tins of tomatoes. Two bottles of the cheapest lemonade or water. Should be under a fiver.

Normally, every year just before winter I buy two usb rechargeable head lamps and check my batteries. Kids can't have candels but I buy a few in B&M every year and every trip to ikea. We have a lot of power cuts and because quite rural we aren't a priority to fix. I'm not prepping for war etc. Just surviving 24 hours with 4 kids who can't normally live with the Internet so they won't fair well in pitch black ( ASD, ADHD and other SEN). My biggest threat is stress. I like to feel I have some control snd am a bit prepared. Water has gone off about 6 times and power cuts are min 5 times a year.

Thanks for this.
i am going to print the swedish and the german booklets and place them in our garb bag.
i am storing most things under the eaves in the loft (my bedroom) alongside all our (minimal) camping gear!
i buy one thing every month (this month waterproof matches on amazon £9).
i also set a reminder in my calendar about the expiry dates of medication (iodine tablets etc..)

we had a burst pipe last year and the water supply was really handy! A tip if you have SEN kids (or other vulnerable people) in your family, you can register with thames water in London to get priority bottled water in case of an emergency. It doesnt work really well because we didnt get any water delivered despite not having any for a week. But then randomly six months later, we had two massive packs of water delivered because there was a water disruption nearby (not affecting us though). It doesnt cost anything so might as well register…

In our grab bag i have added a pepper spray for self defence… just in case (i dont think it is listed in the aforementioned booklets but i may have missed it)

Where are you getting pepper spray in the UK from @tostaky?

Sorry, not pepper spray, just the “legal” equivalent on amazon!

I suppose if the legal spary fails to deter an attacker, i could always use my most expensive bottle of perfume and spray it in their eyes!!!! 😅

Ah ok thanks, I've looked at the Amazon one previously but not bought. Not for prepping as such, more for feeling safer if walking alone in the dark evenings.

Following

We live in a tiny flat with no outdoor space, no stairs or loft to store things in and the kitchen is tiny as it’s part of the living room. I can barely store more than a weeks shopping as it is.