The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for thunderstorms in parts of the UK on Wednesday, prompting households to stock up on essential foods and water supplies. The warning covers Scotland, with localised thunderstorms forecast elsewhere, and longer-range forecasts suggest 'thundery plumes' could bring unsettled weather at the end of August.
Met Office warning details
The yellow weather warning states that 'Some short term loss of power and other services is likely'. It also advises that driving conditions could be affected by heavy rain or hail, while flooding of homes and businesses is possible.
Utility Bidder, a firm, is urging households to prepare for thunderstorm power cuts, including stocking up on food and water. Madeleine Porter, Head of Marketing at Utility Bidder, said: “If you’re not prepared for a power cut, they can be stressful and overwhelming, and can largely disrupt everyday life. Whilst severe weather and system faults can be common causes, most power cuts are short-lived and hyper-local, especially in villages.”
Preparation advice
Porter added: “Despite wild weather or the risk of a power cut, it isn’t always necessarily a local-wide problem. Make sure to check in case it's just a problem with your fuses, but you’ll soon know if it’s a problem for neighbours from word of mouth or lighting outages outside, which will be especially easy to see if it is nighttime.”
She continued: “As a general rule of thumb, keep a torch and spare batteries at home at all times as a back-up light source, especially in place of lighting candles, which creates an added fire risk. It is also worth always being stocked up on non-perishable food and water, which is readily available; this saves the risk of relying on fridge and freezer food. Despite this, in some cases, there isn’t an urgent rush to stop your food sources from perishing. The contents of your freezer, as one example, will be protected for up to 12 hours, or twice as long if it remains closed, whilst your fridge necessities will be safe for around four hours.”
Met Office advice
The Met Office also urges households to stockpile key items like batteries and torches. It says: “People cope better with power cuts when they have prepared for them in advance. It’s easy to do; consider gathering torches and batteries, a mobile phone power pack and other essential items.”
The Met Office’s longer range forecast from August 19 to September 2 says: “The broad theme of high pressure remaining in place at least close to the UK seems most probable, with occasional more unsettled or changeable interludes, either resulting from Atlantic frontal systems or thundery plumes. This means that rainfall amounts overall are more likely to be below normal than above. Temperatures will probably be above average and some spells of hot weather and heatwaves are possible, especially in the south.”
