UK ‘black sky event’ warning as expert explains item every household should have
Experts have revealed a vital item households should have in the event of a major blackout, cutting off Brits from power and causing widespread chaos.
A 'black sky' event defines a catastrophic scenario in which the national electricity grid suffers a complete and prolonged outage.
This would cause failures across critical and major infrastructure such as internet and mobile connectivity and also water supplies, sewage systems, payment systems and shops.
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The term is used by civil contingency experts to describe a crisis in which society is left disconnected for days - with people being told to act now and prepare.
While the UK National Grid has never experienced a total blackout in its history, the potential concept has gained significant attention in recent weeks following a UK resilience summit.
This focussed on the UK's ability to withstand a grid failure for a minimum of 72 hours with Brits urged to stockpile essential items to be able to cope with major power outages, cyber attacks or adverse weather conditions cutting off vital services.
Brits were also told to prepare for the prospect of war as we also stand at heightened risk of cyberattacks which would affect internet and mobile connectivity, as well as the ability to pay for goods wirelessly.
The UK's 'Be Ready' campaign is designed to help ready the population for all sorts of crises, however as it stands, the government says there is no specific threat to the grid.
Battery powered or wind-up radios are vital for households
However a communication system that could survive is FM radio. This was evidenced during a major flood in Lancaster in 2015, when 61,500 people in the city lost power, but the local radio station continued running with an emergency generator.
The UK Government also said that wind-up FM radios are a must-have for any household in the event of such a crisis, because it would keep them informed and connected when other standard infrastructure fails.
They are listed as an 'essential supply' along with bottled water, a torch, tinned or non-perishable food and alternative heating sources.
Speaking to LADbible, Andrew White, CEO and Telecommunications and Data Centre Expert at Harberry Limited, explained what a 'black sky' event could mean - and why radios could work if the UK suffered such a crisis.
"A ‘black sky event’ is typically characterised as a catastrophic, long-duration failure of critical national infrastructure, especially the electric grid, lasting weeks or months, triggered by extreme natural hazards or deliberate attacks," he explained.
"Trains may not be able to run, leading to people being displaced. Electronic payment systems become interrupted. Telecommunications systems may be interrupted or become overloaded. Road networks and logistics systems may not function correctly.
"The next problem becomes the recovery and restart of the affected systems. For example restarting a ‘dark’ electricity grid isn’t as simple as just ‘turning it back on’. Once the grid is restarted, all of the other services need to be ‘restarted’."
It's understood the BBC has a plan in place, to run a special emergency radio broadcast with lines of communication not dependent on the internet.
White continued: "It will be the 'UK Emergency Broadcast System'. In the event of a crisis, the UK government has arranged that it will be used as a means of broadcasting information to the public.
"The wind-up element removes the need for batteries. It also addresses the more subtly issue of how long will the interruption last. Separate government advice suggests maintaining three days worth of food supplies.
"However the definition of ‘black sky’ runs to weeks or months of disruption. I do not know if the studios and transmitters are capable of withstanding such a prolonged disruption;.
"There is no reason to suggest that using FM radios won’t work during such an event."
Topics: UK News, Technology
James Holt
