UK urges food and water stockpiling as El Niño warnings escalate
The government has advised Britons to stockpile food and water as forecasters warn of a record-breaking El Niño bringing extreme weather and potential supply disruption.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Forecasters are warning that a powerful El Niño event is building in the Pacific Ocean, with the Met Office saying it could be the strongest in living memory and the UN's weather agency describing it as 'supersized'. The phenomenon, which occurs every two to seven years when sea temperatures in the tropical eastern Pacific rise above average, has already been linked to wildfires in Indonesia, flooding in Peru, and restrictions on shipping through the Panama Canal. In the UK, the Met Office says the country is likely to see a wetter and stormier autumn and early winter, followed by a colder end to the season. It also predicts that 2027 could become the hottest year on record, temporarily exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above pre-industrial levels.
The government has responded by advising Britons to stockpile food and water to prepare for potential disruption. Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle told the Guardian that having a store of food could help people cope before emergency services arrive. The National Audit Office has also warned that disruption to food supply chains is becoming more likely and potentially more severe. The advice has drawn criticism from the Shadow Environment Secretary, Victoria Atkins, who said the government should instead boost domestic food production.
The global impacts of El Niño are expected to be severe. The World Meteorological Organization says the current event could be the strongest since records began four decades ago, with sea surface temperatures in the central tropical Pacific potentially rising more than three degrees above normal. That could lead to drought in Australia, southern Africa, and the Amazon, while other regions face flooding and stronger storms. The effects on food production are already being felt, with India importing sugar for the first time in a decade and chocolate prices expected to rise after dry weather in West Africa. Researchers say the last strong El Niño in 2015-16 caused Storm Desmond, which brought record rainfall and flooding to parts of the UK.
Scientists stress that El Niño is a natural climate pattern, but its impacts are being amplified by human-induced climate change. The Met Office's chief science and technology officer, Professor Stephen Belcher, said the large El Niño is a reminder that natural variations in the climate system are adding to the stresses of climate change. As the event peaks in November and December, communities around the world are bracing for extreme weather, and the UK is being urged to prepare for a difficult winter ahead.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Niño is a natural phenomenon, but climate change intensifies its impacts. | · | |||||
| For the UK and Western Europe, El Niño could bring a wet autumn and winter. | · | |||||
| The El Nino event is expected to raise sea temperatures by more than three degrees above normal and is likely to contribute to 2027 becoming the warmest year on record. | · | |||||
| WaterAid researchers reported that this year's El Niño is on track to be the biggest yet. | · | |||||
| The Met Office said the current El Niño could be the strongest in living memory. | · | · | ||||
| El Niño could last until at least February. | · | · | · | |||
| El Nino is expected to put extra pressure on food prices. | · | · | · | · | ||
| The Met Office said 2027 is very likely to be the warmest year on record. | · | · | · | · | ||
| The Panama Canal Authority reduced daily transit slots due to the severe El Niño. | · | · | · | · | ||
| The peak of the El Niño is expected to occur around December or January, several months away. | · | · | · | · | ||
| The UK is expected to see a wetter, stormier autumn and possibly a very cold winter. | · | · | · | · | ||
| Central America, the Amazon, southern Africa and Australia face increased drought risk. | · | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
ITV focused on the scientific explanation of El Niño, its global impacts on food prices and supply chains, and the potential for extreme weather in the UK, including a case study of a Welsh village already facing both floods and wildfires. They did not focus on the government's stockpiling advice.
- “It could be down to a storm that started thousands of miles away.”
- “I have never seen a forecast that looks like this.”
- “We should be rightly concerned. It's a historically dry summer and then we're probably going to move into a historically wet winter”
BBC News provided comprehensive coverage with expert interviews, detailed explanations of the science, and a global perspective, including the Panama Canal restrictions and the UN's warning. They did not mention the stockpiling advice.
- “I've been involved in long range forecasting for many years, and I have never seen an event like this.”
- “This El Niño will deliver a major blow to communities, economies, and supply chains across the globe.”
- “The tropical Pacific is warming faster than I've ever seen.”
Sky News focused on the Met Office warning and the potential impacts on UK weather, with a meteorologist explaining the science. They also highlighted the global effects, but did not cover the government's stockpiling advice.
- “This could have a number of effects. Globally, it could heighten the risk of drought in Australia and in southern Africa. And here in the UK and in Western Europe, it could mean basically a very wet and very stormy autumn and winter.”
- “So the Pacific isn't sending bad weather to us, it's simply steering it towards us.”
- “It's likely to be the strongest in over 100 years”
Channel 5 covered the Met Office warning and the practical implications for the UK, including the government's stockpiling advice and the National Audit Office's warning on food supply disruption. They also referenced the 2015 Storm Desmond as a comparison.
- “She's saying extreme storms are very likely. She's saying we should all be preparing by storing food.”
- “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.”
- “The National Audit Office, these are the ultimate number crunchers of all the public money in this country. They have also warned about disruption to the food supply.”
BBC ONE West provided a detailed explanation of El Niño, focusing on the Met Office's warning of a record event and the potential for intense storms in the UK. They also covered the global impacts, including the Panama Canal, but did not mention stockpiling.
- “The Met Office is warning that the El Nino weather phenomenon which is developing in the Pacific Ocean is said to be the strongest in more than a century, triggering intense storms, winds and rainfall across the UK this autumn.”
- “This El Nino looks to be off the scale.”
- “We have many years of forecasts and many years of historical observations and in none of those have we seen an event that warms as quickly as the Pacific is warming now.”
GB News took a sceptical stance, dismissing the stockpiling advice as climate alarmism and emphasising that El Niño is a natural phenomenon. They focused on the political response and criticised the government's messaging.
- “This is just more fear porn.”
- “I don't believe any of this. I think it's more climate alarmism.”
- “It's a natural weather phenomenon, by the way. It is affected by the temperature of the sea, but it is a natural weather phenomenon.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.