UK shoppers stockpile radios and tinned food after alert

Households across Britain have been quietly assembling emergency supplies in their cupboards, and the effect is now visible at shop tills. Retailers report sharp rises in sales of radios, torches, tinned food and bottled water after the government urged people to prepare for a crisis, figures obtained by Newsnight show.

The advice came from Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, who on 22 October told the public to keep three litres of water per person per day at home, along with tinned goods, baby food, battery powered torches and mobile phone charging packs. The point of the guidance, he has stressed, is everyday resilience: being able to cope when ordinary life is interrupted.

For the retailers who serve those households, the change in buying habits was immediate. Maplin, the electronics chain, said sales of torches rose by 284%, radios by 92% and power banks by 106% in the period since the government’s announcement last week, measured against the same period last month. Ollie Marshall, the company’s managing director, described the speed of the shift. “Within hours of the Be Ready announcement we saw people reach for the basics - a torch, a wind-up radio, a power bank. Torch sales nearly quadrupled and radio sales almost doubled in three days,” he said. “These are simple, affordable products that keep a household connected and informed when the power goes out, and it’s encouraging to see people taking the advice seriously.”

Supermarket shelves tell a similar story. Iceland reported a 40% increase in sales of tinned products over the weekend, alongside strong sales of bottled water. A spokesperson for the chain said: “It’s clear consumers have listened to the government’s message as we have seen a 40% increase in sales of tinned products over the weekend and strong sales of bottled water too. Our supplies of these products remain healthy.” That last point matters for shoppers wondering whether the surge will leave shelves empty; the retailer says stock levels are sound.

The pattern extends well beyond the big chains. Independent retailers who specialise in preparedness goods described demand at a level they had never seen. Josh Pringle, from Sgt Prepper’s online store, said his sales had increased tenfold. “We were a small outfit on Wednesday. And then the government launched the Be Ready campaign and we couldn’t believe what we were seeing - order after order after order. Most of them were for a wind-up radio,” he told Newsnight. Lincoln Miles, founder of Preppers Shop UK, reported a 650% increase in sales after the announcement. “Everything about off grid seems to be the key of what people are buying for the minute,” he said.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the high street, the DIY and electronics retailer Robert Dyas recorded a 160% rise in radio sales compared with the previous week. Many of the items flying off shelves match, almost item for item, the list the defence secretary set out: water, tinned food, torches, ways to keep a phone charged.

Streeting, responding to the sales figures, framed the response as a civic good rather than a cause for alarm. “It’s encouraging that people are taking practical steps to be ready. Having a few everyday essentials at home, from tinned food to torches, helps households prepare for disruption, whether that’s flooding, power cuts or burst pipes. We can all play our part in making Britain more resilient,” he told Newsnight.

The scenarios the government has in mind are varied, from a cyber attack to an extreme weather event, and the advice is deliberately modest: a few inexpensive items, stored at home, that keep a family fed, hydrated and informed if services are knocked out. The retail data suggests the message landed. Whether the surge proves lasting or fades once the campaign recedes from the headlines, the immediate picture is of a public that, for now, has chosen to take the warning seriously.