Shops In Chaos As Chocolate Melts On Shelves

Chocolate has started to melt on the shelves of UK supermarkets and grocery stores as the country’s heatwave begins to kick in.

With record temperatures of above 40 degrees Celsius expected, it was always likely that Britain’s chocolate stocks would be among the first to suffer – and a woman’s TikTok video has gone viral after she showed footage of the confectionary’s plight in in one supermarket.

TikTok user @alicensx’s video shows various bags of chocolate stored on shelves which all look like they’ve wilted and flopped inside their packaging.

At one point, a person can be seen picking up a soft, misshapen packet, before the camera pans to another shelf, where a number of chocolate bars look like they have completely melted.

"All the chocolate has melted," the caption claims.

The video, which Alice says was taken in B&M in Featherstone near Wakefield in Yorkshire, has picked up over 1.7 million views and racked up over 104,000 likes since it was posted two days ago.

Plenty of people have taken to the comments to share their shock, with one commenter writing: "Just proves we need ac in England".

They were backed up by others, with one saying: "... is no air con worth the loss of all that product..?"

People from other countries chipped in too, explaining various ways in which their own chocolate could withstand such crazy temperatures.

A Canadian wrote: "Its Law that all public access stores (no matter what kind) has air conditioning... Labour's laws".

Several Australians meanwhile popped up to commend their own chocolate's structural integrity, with one commenter writing: "This is why Australian dairy milk is different to the uk it’s because they add extra oils to make sure it doesn’t melt as easy in our hot summers."

While this video was filmed last week when temperatures in the UK were already starting to soar, today and tomorrow (July 18 and 19) are going to eclipse the heat of a few days, with the Met Office issuing a red weather warning.

Met Office chief meteorologist Paul Gundersen said of the climate crisis event: "Exceptional, perhaps record-breaking temperatures are likely early next week, quite widely across the red warning area on Monday, and focussed a little more east and north on Tuesday. 

"Currently there is a 50 percent chance we could see temperatures top 40C and 80 percent we will see a new maximum temperature reached."

#Heatwave2022 continues with a a very warm start Monday, temperatures rising rapidly under strong sunshine throughout the morning, reaching into the mid to high thirties for many.

Stay #WeatherAware ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/9r9rRvONoD

— Met Office (@metoffice) July 17, 2022

Penny Endersby, Met Office chief executive, said: "The extreme heat that we're forecasting right now is absolutely unprecedented.

"Please treat the warnings we are putting out as seriously as you would a red or amber warning from us for wind or snow and follow the advice.

"Stay out of the sun, keep your home cool, think about adjusting your plans for the warning period."