A worried single parent is stockpiling candles and torches because she can't shake the fear a black-out is on the way.
Vulnerable Brits have been warned by the National Grid that homes could lose power for three hours at a time this winter, if energy supplies run extremely low.
As the freezing Arctic air arrived this week, thousands were left without heating in Shetland, Scotland, as -5C temperatures as significant snowfall triggered widespread power cuts.
Many in England are now preparing for the worst.
The alarm was raised earlier this week when the National Grid put two coal units at a Yorkshire power plant on standby as a backup in case the grid was unable to cope as temperatures plunged.
Susan from Essex, told the BBC that she has been loading up on supplies for the past few months.
With the concern of the energy price rising leaving people on edge, stocking up is going on across the UK.
"I've got some eight-hour candles, I think it's a brilliant idea to have things that are going to be useful if the power does go off," the mum said.
"I remember the 70s power cuts, eating our supper in the dark - I think that's had a knock-on effect during my life.
"Since then I have always wanted to be prepared.
"Even though money is tight, I've always made sure I've got a little stock of food in as well."
There is still a small chance that National Grid's plan could come into effect in January and February on the "deepest, darkest winter evenings", the operator's boss has previously warned.
Under the plan, which can be found in the firm's Winter Outlook, blackouts would be rolled out across different regions at different times to avoid a complete outage and shutdown of the grid.
People would likely not be able to use power or heating during peak hours, typically 4pm to 7pm.
Andrew Lawton, CEO at Reskube, the infrastructure resilience expert, said these events should come as a warning for millions of vulnerable people and home workers could fall into the same predicament as temperatures plummet.
He said: "As we are now seeing, power cuts are a reality for millions across the UK each winter. That’s with the threat of widespread blackouts still looming large.
"This toughest of winters comes at a time when remote working is firmly embedded across the British workforce. It means that power and network outages are more than just a passing irritation.
"They are a significant business threat. Workforces face a real risk to their operations and productivity as critical and day-to-day work is affected. This isn’t just an issue for the at-home office worker."
