Britain is facing a food shortage crisis due to scorching heatwaves, with fresh food supplies placed under "severe pressure" during last week's baking temperatures, according to the UK Cold Chain Federation.
Cold storage pushed to the limit
Phil Pluck, head of the federation which represents cold storage firms, warned that refrigerated warehouses were pushed to their limits as the mercury rocketed to 37C. The warnings come after shoppers reported supermarket freezers and delivery systems breaking down.
Mr Pluck said the scorching conditions were a warning that key food infrastructure had been designed for a cooler climate. "We all breathed a sigh of relief come Saturday when we could see this particular heatwave was going. But we know the next one's on its way," he said.
Risk of major breakdowns
The chief added: "We were not going to collapse last week, but we were under severe pressure and really it just acts as a warning. If things get to 39C or 40C and that continues for more than five days — and we aren't that far from that — then we will probably see major breakdowns."
Mr Pluck has called on the Government to class the cold chain as critical national infrastructure, allowing large warehouses priority emergency access to the power grid. He said roofs of key warehouses had soared to as high as 50C, stretching their ability to keep the required -20C below.
Aging infrastructure
"Over half of our temperature control warehousing is old. Its equipment was designed for yesteryear. It was designed for those terrible peaks when we would get news stories saying, 'Gosh, we might hit 30C for one day'," he said.
The 460 big UK warehouses were estimated to have consumed the same energy as Greater Manchester and Leeds combined during last week's roasting temperatures.
Power grid strain
Mr Pluck added: "We tried to get more power from the grid last week to keep those refrigeration units going, so that we could keep the shelves full and keep people fed. The grid effectively responded by saying, 'We have no capacity either'."
