Brits told to keep torches and gloves handy and expect Power Blackouts as essential staff fall ill with the Coronavirus

POWER companies across Britain have informed customers to be ready if the lights go out as essential staff fall ill with the coronavirus.

Britons have been told to keep torches and gloves handy in case there are power outages, amid potential engineer shortages. A combination of staff sickness due to the coronavirus pandemic and the government’s guidance on non-essential workers to stay at home, mean energy teams are more stretched.

One British electrical infrastructure firm has written to customers telling them to prepare for a power blackout, as the nation remains at home amid the lockdown.

UK Power has written to its priority customers, which includes the elderly and families with young children, to offer advice on what to do if there is a power outage, reported The Daily Telegraph.

The firm, which owns and maintains the electricity cables in the south east and east of England and London, gave advice to customers such as making sure they have ‘hat, gloves and a blanket to hand to keep warm.’

Other advice included ‘keeping a torch handy’ and ‘reducing heat loss by closing doors on unused rooms,’ and keeping a corded telephone in the house, where possible, as well as a power bank to charge mobile phones.