Shoppers often panic buy essentials at supermarkets when snow is forecast (Image: Alex Evans)
Shoppers buying milk, bread and toilet roll at supermarkets this week have been issued a warning as much of the UK.
Overnight temperatures plummeted to a bitter -14C in Altanharra, northern Scotland, last night, marking the coldest night of this winter so far.
But temperatures are expected to drop even further on Friday evening, with warning are possible in parts of Scotland and Northern England.
The national forecaster is urging people to stay safe as the risk of ice continues where rain, sleet and snow has fallen onto frozen surfaces.
meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “Because that rain is falling on some pretty cold ground, it is likely to turn to icy conditions as well. So, we are telling people to take care if you are travelling around with these cold temperatures, but at least it’s quite settled and away from that freezing fog it will be nice, bright and sunny”.
As wintry conditions continue, it is well known that when snow, sleet and ice strike shoppers tend to panic buy and rush out to supermarkets to stock up on essentials.
Consumer retail experts say that the most commonly bought items by shoppers in snowy weather are bread, milk and toilet rolls.
Speaking to CNN, experts said: “With every predicted blizzard, there’s a mad dash to load up on milk, bread, eggs and toilet paper.
“Sure, there are some variations, including booze, snack foods and even ice cream. Yet these items are the first to disappear from store shelves when the dreaded s-word is mentioned.”
When the infamous Beast from the East snow storm hit the UK in 2018, we reported how shoppers cleared shelves of essentials, including bread and milk, with the big freeze even seeing some resort to taking items straight from delivery vans in a mad panic.
One social media user reported chaotic scenes on Twitter (now X) at the time, writing: “Local Co-op out of milk and bread. Apparently there was a delivery this morning and people were literally taking it from the driver before he’d got it into the shop.”
Another user wrote: “It’s snowing here and I’ve just been out to watch the panic buying brigade 20 milk and 14 loaves battling it out in those trolleys like chariots and battering rams. I also noticed the price of the basics suddenly shot up 5p in some cases. Sheer profiteering as the snow has hardly settled.”
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But why does panic buying these items happen? Author and anthropologist Sharon Wolfgang said: “Now, why do people buy milk and bread when they expect snow? (And they actually do; I’ve often seen supermarket bread sections completely empty the day before a predicted storm.)
“Two reasons, I think. First, those are two basic foods that most people want to have on hand all the time, especially if they have children. Heavy snow makes it hard to go to the store, so people make sure they get a supply of the basics while they can.”
There are currently no confirmations of any shortages of bread or milk in supermarkets like Tesco, Asda, Morrisons or Sainsbury’s, but shoppers could end up creating some if they panic buy due to the weather.
So if you’re nipping out to the shop just grab one bottle or a loaf, but don’t stockpile 20 loaves and 16 pints, or you’ll actually create the problem.