Environment Secretary Angela Eagle has urged people in the UK to store supplies such as food and toilet roll in preparation for potential climate-related emergencies this winter, drawing comparisons to the panic buying seen during the Covid pandemic.
An unprecedented El Nino event - when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise 0.5C above the long-term average - is forecast to reach more than 3C in the coming months, making this year's event “the largest since the 19th century”, according to the Met Office.
Wetter and stormier conditions expected
El Nino creates a heightened risk of drought in the tropics, southern Africa and north-east Australia, while north-western Europe - including the UK - is likely to experience wetter and stormier conditions in the coming autumn and early winter, the forecaster said.
Angela Eagle said people in the UK should prepare for the increased risk of national weather emergencies by stocking up on essentials such as food and loo roll.
Minister's warning
She said: “We’re about to experience probably the largest El Nino that has ever been seen, and that will lead to drier summers, wetter winters, with more extreme storms in this country.
“It will do a lot more damage in Asia with flooding, and therefore I think that we need to take it seriously.
“If you’ve got a store of a bit of food that can keep you going for a while before the emergency services can get to you, you’re going to be a lot better off than if you haven’t.
“So some of it is that kind of preparation for just being a bit more resilient.”
Expert predictions
Professor Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical hazards at University College London, last month said the Met Office and other scientific forecasts “suggest that the world is in for one hell of a ride”.
“The astonishing and unprecedented amount of heat building across the eastern Pacific Ocean is all but certain to make this the most powerful El Nino in living memory - possibly even the biggest in several centuries,” he said.
The warning comes after Britain saw a run on toilet rolls across the country as panicking people bulk bought essentials ahead of lockdown during the 2020 Covid pandemic.
