Energy crisis: How worried should we be about the lights going out?

Published

3 years ago

October 7, 2022

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The latest information on the risks facing gas and electricity supplies suggests there is an increased risk of blackouts this winter – but they can be prevented.

National Grid’s Electricity System Operator’s (ESO) updated report on the pressures facing power generators revealed contingency plans for three-hour blackouts in areas where gas-fuelled power falls short of demand.

A separate National Grid Gas Transmission study suggested that the country would be relying more on LNG (liquefied natural gas) supplies from the US and Qatar this winter.

That is because of uncertainty over whether traditional EU imports would be available because of the squeeze on supplies in the bloc following Russia’s war in Ukraine – intensifying pressure on the UK power grid as a result.

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Here, Sky News examines the pressures on UK supplies, what may be done to help keep the lights on and just how perilous the country’s situation could become if a prolonged cold snap arrives.

How worried should I be about the outlook reports?

There is no getting away from the fact that these updates make for worse reading that the “early view” released by the ESO in July.

Then, it did not foresee the prospect of the lights going out, despite obvious pressure on supplies across Europe.

Thursday’s warning could not be starker, which is why they hope the risk of blackouts can be averted through an energy-saving scheme that will pay households not to use electricity-heavy products during peak hours and keep five coal-powered generators, that would otherwise have closed, open and on standby. More on the energy-saving scheme later.

Why is gas the main concern?

Gas-fired power stations account for more than 40% of UK electricity generation while gas is also responsible for heating the vast majority of homes.

Natural gas supplies have been severely disrupted since the war – forcing wholesale prices up and threatening much of continental Europe with shortages as most, such as Germany, have previously relied on gas from Russia.

While the UK holds its own in the warmer months, thanks to a mix of nuclear, wind, North Sea gas output and imports from Norway, Qatar and the US, we tend to lean more on the continent during winter to balance the gap between supply and demand.

This is because we lack gas storage.

But we have more gas than we need…

It’s true. Currently.

The UK has been exporting gas at record volumes since late spring to help EU nations fill their storage after Vladimir Putin turned off the taps.

The lack of gas storage, however, means that we tend to rely on imports in times of high demand such as winter.

Only 70% of British gas supplies last time around came from the North Sea and Norway. It meant that supplies via ship of LNG and from the continent accounted for the rest.

What are the main threats?

The big one has to be, energy experts agree, the risk of a prolonged cold snap.

Unplanned power station outages too, as well as the inability to import electricity from Europe if there are, for example, nuclear power plant outages in France or gas shortages across the continent. Gas shortages will reduce the ability for EU countries to generate electricity.

The Gas Winter Outlook saw the potential for the shortfall in gas supplies within continental Europe to impact the UK’s ability to secure imports, should they be required.

As a result, it saw LNG acting as the primary source of supply flexibility during the winter months.

“In the unlikely event there is insufficient gas supply available in GB to meet demand, and should the market be unable to resolve the resultant imbalance, we have the tools required to ensure the safety and integrity of the gas system in the event of a Gas Supply Emergency.

“All possible measures would be taken to minimise the extent to which we use these tools”, National Grid said.

What are those possible measures and what is a Gas Supply Emergency?

A Gas Supply Emergency can be activated in stages if suppliers are unable to guarantee gas for homes and businesses.

It could mean that some customers, starting with the largest industrial consumers, will be asked to stop using gas for a temporary period.

On the power side, the ability for coal-fired power stations to restart generation has been retained, the ESO previously announced, to help cover any imbalance between supply and demand for electricity.

It has been utilised, most recently, early this year because of poor wind power generation – due to a lack of… wind.

So what does this all mean for the lights?

The message seems to be that the lights should not go out – but we need your help to achieve it.

The “demand flexibility service” will run from November to March and households can sign up via their energy supplier.

In return for not charging your electric car or running dishwashers, tumble driers or washing machines during times of peak energy use during the day, you will be paid.

It is expected to be implemented 12 times, whatever happens, to ensure people get rewarded for being part of the scheme.

It is hoped it will deliver 2GW of power savings to balance supply and demand, preventing any disruption.

Has anything like the ‘demand flexibility service’ been done before?

Yes, on a big scale for industrial users of energy. Companies can be paid not to use power during times of increased demand in order to balance electricity supply and demand.

A small-scale trial of incentivising households to reduce electricity at peak times was carried out earlier this year with energy company Octopus Energy.

From that trial, the National Grid has been able to say, “we successfully proved the proof of concept for a demand flexibility service”.

Work has been going on between the National Grid, suppliers, aggregators and consumer groups to scale up to making demand flexibility a national service.

Has this been done before anywhere else?

Countries across Europe have been working on plans to reduce their electricity demand.

Just last month France‘s national grid operator said it might have to ask households, local government and businesses to reduce their consumption at peak times. It aims to reduce electricity use by 10%.

Germany has planned to reduce its gas usage by 2% through a range of public and private measures. From last month most public buildings have not been heated above 19C, public monuments have not been lit up and heating private swimming pools has been banned.

Will electricity prices come down?

Not yet. The ESO said on Thursday that, notwithstanding the mitigation measures, it is “highly likely” that the wholesale price of gas and electricity will remain “very high” throughout winter.

UK

Man found guilty of murdering wife in rare retrial

Published

3 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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Man found guilty of murdering wife in rare retrial

A 52-year-old carpenter from Surrey has been found guilty of murdering his wife in a rare retrial, eight years after being acquitted.

Robert Rhodes killed his estranged wife, Dawn Rhodes, by slitting her throat with a knife at their family home in Redhill, Surrey, in June 2016.

He was previously found not guilty after a trial at the Old Bailey in 2017, where he convinced jurors that he had acted in self-defence during an argument.

It has since emerged that this was a “cover-up”, after the couple’s child came forward with new evidence that Rhodes killed Ms Rhodes, and they were involved in the murder too.

In 2021, the child, who was under the age of 10 at the time of the murder, told police they had been manipulated into lying about the true version of events by their father.

Both Rhodes and the child were found with knife wounds at the scene, which were initially claimed to have been inflicted in an attack by Ms Rhodes.

The child’s new account stated that after Rhodes killed his wife, he inflicted two wounds to his scalp before instructing the child to inflict two more on their father’s back. He then cut his own child’s arm so deeply that it required stitches under general anaesthetic.

Under the double jeopardy rule a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime, unless new and compelling evidence comes out after an acquittal or conviction for serious offences.

On Friday, jurors at Inner London Crown Court convicted Rhodes of murder and child cruelty.

He was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice and two counts of perjury.

Rhodes will be sentenced on 16 January.

What is the law on double jeopardy?

The double jeopardy rule is a legal principle that prevents a person from being tried twice for the same crime after they have been acquitted or convicted.

It’s a protection for that person from harassment. However, the law permits a retrial where someone was acquitted of a serious offence, but new and compelling evidence has since come to light which indicates the person might actually be guilty.

In this case, the new evidence from the child was compelling enough for the Court of Appeal to quash the acquittal and a retrial to take place.

Crucially, the child’s evidence was so compelling that the Court of Appeal agreed Rhodes needed to be tried again.

Surrey Police told Sky News that the child, who was of primary school age at the time and is below the age of criminal responsibility, was “groomed” by Rhodes into lying.

The Crown Prosecution Service said “the child’s part in the plan was that they would distract the mother by saying to the mother ‘hold out your hands, I’ve got a surprise for you’, and the child would then put a drawing into the hands of the mother”.

Rhodes then cut his wife’s throat. She was found lying face down in a pool of blood in the dining room.

Libby Clark, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service’s South East Area Complex Casework Unit, said the child showed “great bravery and strength” in coming forward with the truth.

She said: “The child has grown up with the dawning realisation, I would say, that they were part of a plan. They were complicit in the murder of the mother, Dawn Rhodes.”

Legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg said there are “very few cases” where a retrial like this happens.

He said: “It’s very unusual. I don’t think there’s been a case that I can think of where a witness who was present at the scene of the crime has come forward and given evidence, which has led to a conviction.”

UK

‘They’re invisible within society’: Whistleblower says asylum seekers disappear ‘daily’ from hotels

Published

11 hours ago

December 12, 2025

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'They're invisible within society': Whistleblower says asylum seekers disappear 'daily' from hotels

An insider has told Sky News people are still disappearing “daily” from asylum seeker hotels.

In an exclusive interview, the contractor described the chaos he sees within the system as “terrifying” because undocumented people are persistently absconding from hotels.

He spoke to us because he is deeply concerned about the ongoing lack of monitoring at a time when the government has promised to tighten the asylum system.

The man, who we are not naming, works across multiple asylum hotels in one region of England.

“When someone gets to about a week away from the hotel, they’re processed as an absconder,” he said.

“Nothing really happens there. They get marked as ‘left the hotel’ and a notification is sent to the Home Office.

“It’s at least weekly. Most of the time it can be daily.”

The government moved last month to reset its immigration policy by promising to toughen the process for asylum seekers.

The latest figures up to September this year show 36,272 asylum seekers living in hotels.

Overall 110,000 people claimed asylum in the UK between September 2024 and September 2025 – higher than the previous recorded peak of 103,000 in 2002.

The hotel contractor also described to Sky News what he says happens when a resident’s claim for asylum is rejected.

“They get given a date that they need to move out by,” he said.

“You would expect immigration enforcement to go to the hotel to pick these people up. You would expect them to not even be told that they failed their asylum claim.

“You would expect them to just be collected from the hotel… that doesn’t happen.”

He told us that some residents just walk out of the door with no further checks or assistance.

“It must be terrifying for these people as well… ‘what do I do now? I don’t have an address’.

“So what do they do? How do they survive?

“Do they then get forced… to go into an underground world?

“They’re just completely invisible within society.

“For those people to freely be allowed, undetected and unchecked, on the streets of this country is terrifying.”

His account from within the system contrasts with the government’s promises to restore control over the asylum process.

In response to the interview, a Home Office spokesperson said: “This government will end the use of hotels and have introduced major reforms to the asylum system, to scale up removals of people with no right to be here and address the factors drawing illegal migrants to the UK in the first place.

“Nearly 50,000 people with no right to be in our country have been removed and enforcement arrests to tackle illegal working are at the highest level in recent history.

“A dedicated team in the Home Office works with police, across government and commercial companies to trace absconders. Failure to return to a hotel can also lead to asylum claims and support being withdrawn.”

At a community kitchen in Greater Manchester, organisers told us they regularly see people who are living under the radar – surviving with “cash in hand” jobs.

Volunteer Shabana Yunas helps many hungry and desperate people. She also feels the tension it causes in her community.

“People don’t know who they are and I understand a lot of people are afraid… but if there’s those things in place where we can monitor who is around, then everybody can feel a lot safer.

“If people are coming into the UK and we don’t know who they are and they’re just disappearing, crime rates are going to go up, slavery is going to go higher, child exploitation is going to be more exposed.

“They are too afraid to go to the authorities because they are scared of being deported to a country where their lives could be at risk.

“It’s getting worse, it is dangerous and we do need to do something about this where we can support people.”

Another volunteer at the kitchen is Khalid.

He arrived in the UK in 2015 having travelled from Ethiopia – he hid on a lorry to get into England.

He has applied for asylum and been rejected four times.

He has recently submitted another application and told us political violence at home meant he could not return.

Crucially, he knows plenty of people living off-grid.

“Yeah, they don’t care about what the government thinks, because they already destroyed their life,” he told us.

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Although Khalid now has somewhere to stay, he has previously considered turning to crime to give himself the stability of life in prison.

“I was in depression. I was like, I wanna do some criminal and go jail, to stay in a prison.

“Once upon a time, I’d prefer that way.”

Khalid is now volunteering to give his life more purpose as he waits for another decision from the Home Office.

He says he doesn’t blame people who think he should be deported back to Ethiopia.

When asked if he should have been, he said: “That is up to Home Office, like up to government.”

Stopping small boats, clearing backlogs, closing hotels, enforcing the rules and restoring faith in the system are all priorities for the Home Office – solving it all is one of the defining challenges for the Starmer government.

UK

NHS facing ‘worst case scenario’ December amid ‘super flu’ surge

Published

20 hours ago

December 11, 2025

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NHS facing 'worst case scenario' December amid 'super flu' surge

NHS England has warned the health service is facing a “worst case scenario” December with a surge of “super flu”.

The warning comes as new figures revealed the number of people in hospital with flu have increased by more than half in just one week.

Catch up as it happened: NHS warns of ‘worst-case scenario’ as ‘super flu’ surges

Latest figures show:

• An average of 2,660 patients were in hospital per day with flu last week

• This is the highest ever for this time of year and up 55% on last week

• At this point last year the number stood at 1,861 patients, while in 2023 it was just 402

Health service bosses are warning the number of flu patients in hospital has already increased sharply since the week covered by this data – with no peak in sight.

Virus outbreaks coincide with doctors’ strikes

Weekly flu numbers in England peaked at 5,408 patients last winter and reached 5,441 over the winter of 2022/23, the highest level since the pandemic.

Alongside rocketing flu, the number of norovirus patients in hospital has also risen by 35%.

The NHS is now warning winter viruses are starting to “engulf hospitals”.

Demand for A&Es and ambulance services is also soaring.

New monthly figures show A&E attendances were a record for November at 2.35 million – more than 30,000 higher than November 2024.

In addition, there were 48,814 more ambulance incidents (802,525) compared with last year (753,711).

Some hospitals across the country have asked staff, patients and visitors to wear face masks to cut the spread of flu, while others have gone in and out of critical incident status due to the high number of people attending A&E.

The record-breaking demand on the NHS coincides with a resident doctors’ strike from 17 to 22 December over pay and jobs – sparking fears of major disruption for patients in the run up to Christmas.

People are being advised to attend any planned appointments scheduled during the strikes unless they have been contacted to reschedule.

Flu vaccinations on the up… who can get one?

The NHS is urging anyone eligible to get their flu vaccination to help prevent them getting seriously ill.

Latest figures show more than 17.4 million people have been vaccinated so far this year, more than 381,000 higher than last year.

You can get it if you:

• Are 65 or over in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

• Are pregnant

• Live in a care home

• Are the main carer for an older or disabled person, or receive carer’s allowance

• Live with someone who has a weakened immune system

• Are a frontline health and social care worker

• Are of school age

• Have certain medical conditions (the NHS has a full list)

Wes Streeting, the health secretary, warned of a “tidal wave of flu tearing through our hospitals”.

“We are working with the NHS to make sure it is able to cope with this as best as possible,” he said.

Analysis – Why these flu figures are so troubling

NHSE press releases can be prone to hyperbole: a “tsunami of infections, worst case scenarios” and “tidal wave of flu surging through hospitals” are recent examples.

But the health service’s headline writers can be allowed this excess right now.

The latest flu numbers are bad. Really bad and could get worse. One recent projection was 8,000 patients, before this wave subsides.

But that’s where the problem lies. There is no peak in sight.

We know flu season has come early. It’s going to last longer. But there’s uncertainty over when we expect to see infections falling.

Hospitals are at capacity. Most of those receiving care are elderly or have underlying health conditions.

But younger, fitter people can’t afford to be complacent.

This is a particularly nasty strain that is highly infectious. Nobody is immune. Except those people who have protected themselves with a vaccine.

Warning ‘extremely challenging few weeks ahead’

Professor Meghana Pandit, NHS national medical director, warned the health service faces “an extremely challenging few weeks ahead” with “staff being pushed to the limit”.

She said: “With record demand for A&E and ambulances and an impending resident doctors’ strike, this unprecedented wave of super flu is leaving the NHS facing a worst-case scenario for this time of year – with staff being pushed to the limit to keep providing the best possible care for patients.

“The numbers of patients in hospital with flu is extremely high for this time of year. Even worse, it continues to rise and the peak is not in sight yet, so the NHS faces an extremely challenging few weeks ahead.”

She added: “We have prepared earlier for winter than ever before, and stress-tested services to ensure people have a range of ways to get the help they need and avoid needing to go to A&E.

“For non-life-threatening care, people should call NHS 111 or use 111 online, which can direct you to the most appropriate place, and use A&E and 999 for life threatening conditions and serious injuries.”

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Mr Streeting has offered the British Medical Association (BMA) a last-minute deal in the hope doctors will call off the walkout, which starts next Wednesday.

The doctors’ union has agreed to put the offer to members over the coming day, and is expected to announced a decision on Monday, just two days before the planned strike.

The offer includes a fast expansion of specialist training posts as well as covering out-of-pocket expenses such as exam fees, but does not include extra pay.