What changed
UK retailers say households are buying emergency supplies at sharply higher rates after Defence Secretary Wes Streeting urged people to prepare for disruptions such as cyber attacks and extreme weather.
- Iceland: tinned-food sales up 40% over the weekend.
- Robert Dyas: radio sales up 160% from the previous week.
- Maplin: radios up 92%, torches 284% and power banks 106% compared with the same period last month.
- Sgt Prepper’s: sales increased tenfold.
- Preppers Shop UK: sales increased 650%.
Streeting advised households to keep water, tinned goods, baby food, battery-powered torches and phone-charging packs. The buying surge closely follows that list.
Why it matters
This is a visible shift from government advice into household spending. A message about resilience has turned into orders for wind-up radios, torches, power banks and food that can sit in a cupboard until the lights go out.
For retailers, the clearest winners so far are basic, low-cost items that work without mains power or mobile networks. Maplin said torch sales nearly quadrupled and radio sales almost doubled within three days of the campaign. Independent preparedness shops reported even larger jumps, with one saying most new orders were for wind-up radios.
The practical effect is modest but tangible: more households may now have ways to receive information, charge phones and manage short disruptions. That matters during flooding, power cuts or burst pipes, the kinds of events Streeting cited.
The figures do not show whether this rush will last or whether supplies across the country are under pressure. They also use different comparison periods, so the percentages are not directly interchangeable.
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