The Met Office has issued a significant yellow weather warning for heavy rainfall across England as Storm Chandra approaches, threatening to bring further flooding and substantial transport disruption to multiple regions. With snow and ice also anticipated across parts of the UK this weekend, including Dundee, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield and Nottingham, concerns are mounting about potential supermarket shortages.
Behavioural Experts Explain Panic-Buying Psychology
As households nationwide prepare for wintry conditions, behavioural finance specialists are cautioning against panic buying staples such as milk, toilet rolls, bread and eggs. Professor Hersh Shefrin from Santa Clara University explained the psychological mechanisms driving this behaviour ahead of severe weather events.
"The thing about fear is that it induces us to become excessively pessimistic," Professor Shefrin told USA TODAY. "When that emotion becomes dominant, we act as if we are excessively pessimistic, and so we tend to think in terms of extremes. People visualise internally what scares them - it's starving, it's running out of milk, it's running out of bread."
Why Milk and Bread Become Storm Essentials
Author and anthropologist Sharon Wolfgang provided additional insight into why specific items become targets during weather-related shopping frenzies. "Now, why do people buy milk and bread when they expect snow? Two reasons, I think," she explained. "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."
Wolfgang noted she has frequently observed supermarket bread sections becoming completely empty the day before predicted storms, indicating how widespread this behaviour has become in modern society.
Current Supermarket Situation and Official Advice
At present, major UK supermarkets are not reporting any significant shortages of bread, milk or toilet roll. However, retail experts warn that panic buying triggered by the snowy and icy conditions could potentially create artificial supply issues where none previously existed.
Shoppers are being urged to purchase only what they genuinely require and resist the temptation to stockpile unnecessarily. The combination of transport disruption and increased demand could strain supply chains if consumers engage in excessive buying behaviour.
Professor Shefrin identified two primary fears driving panic-buying behaviour: "The first thing that scares them is that they're going to be deprived of the essentials of life in terms of food, clothing, and shelter. So their response is to try and satisfy or address that fear by stocking up."
He added that people consider how their circumstances might change when "holed up, surrounded by snow, and they can't get out," leading to precautionary purchasing that can quickly escalate into widespread shortages.
