Living without electricity: one city's experience of coping with loss of power

Power cuts caused by flooding are a major danger to people’s lives in the UK and could happen anywhere because infrastructure such as electricity grids and communications networks are not adequately protected against the threat, according to the report of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

The findings call into question the UK’s preparedness for incidences of weather-related disasters, even as scientists and government advisers have warned that they will become more frequent, owing to climate change.

The main reason why Lancaster’s problems were not more disastrous was that the area was manageable in size, the report found. A similar level of flooding in a more populous area could cause far more disruption.