According to Professor Bell, speaking to the Daily Express, during such a blackout people would become trapped in lifts and trains would stop because signalling depends on electricity. Refrigerators would stop working, causing food to spoil, and Wi-Fi would fail. Mobile phone networks may not remain operational, making communication difficult.
Professor Bell recalled that in 2003 a localized power issue affected parts of London, leaving people stuck in underground tunnels with no air conditioning on a hot day. Energy Minister Michael Shanks, speaking from Ukraine, argued that renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind farms are harder to target than fossil fuel plants, potentially strengthening UK national security. The exact likelihood of a major outage remains unclear, as does the UK's specific vulnerabilities and contingency plans.