Claims about power cuts, shortages and emergencies, rated against official and primary sources. Updated weekly.
On 22 October 2026 the Cabinet Office launched Be Ready, asking every household to be able to cope for at least 3 days if power, water, phones or the internet are disrupted. It is general advice for storms, outages and cyber incidents, not a warning about a specific threat.
Sources: GOV.UK Be Ready; Be Ready: power cuts.
NESO, which runs Great Britain's electricity system, says supplies are expected to be secure this winter. Storms still cause local power cuts, which is why having 3 days of supplies makes sense.
Sources: NESO Winter Outlook; Drax summary of the early view.
His Bitchat app, released in July 2025, sends messages phone to phone over Bluetooth with no internet. Payment features were in beta, and a payment still has to reach a device with internet before it counts. It is not new news, and it is not a way to pay in a long blackout.
Sources: bobsguide; DEV Community.
The only 12-week advice we can find was guidance in 2006 to US government staff abroad about a possible flu pandemic, and the consulate page was later removed. Ready.gov advises households to keep supplies for at least several days. Separately, the Pentagon wants major military bases able to run for 90 days without outside help.
Sources: CIDRAP, 2006; Ready.gov; Fortune.
What the claim says. That a disaster will be deliberately caused or faked so that governments can take control of money and property.
What we found. The Great Reset was a World Economic Forum campaign launched in June 2020 about rebuilding economies after Covid. The Forum is a private foundation that runs conferences and cannot pass laws. Full Fact has found many claims built on the Great Reset to be false, including that a 2019 pandemic exercise showed Covid was planned. We found no evidence of any plan to stage a disaster.
What is true. Governments across Europe, including the UK with Be Ready, are asking households to prepare for disruption from storms, cyber attacks and conflict. Being prepared makes sense whatever you believe. See how long your home would last.
Sources: World Economic Forum, 3 June 2020; Full Fact, 14 April 2022; Full Fact, 27 April 2020.
What we found. Access to cash has been protected in law since the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. Since September 2024, FCA rules make the big banks check and fill gaps in local access to notes and coins, free of charge. The Bank of England says it will keep cash available for as long as the public wants it, and banknotes in circulation reached £91.5 billion in early 2026. No digital pound has been approved, and one would need a new Act of Parliament.
What is true. Cash use has fallen sharply, to 8% of UK payments in 2025, and many branches and cash machines have closed. That is why the new rules were brought in. The government's own Be Ready checklist tells households to keep some cash for emergencies. How much cash to keep.
Sources: HM Treasury, 29 June 2023; FCA, 24 July 2024; Bank of England, October 2025; Bank of England, 15 October 2026.
What we found. The Bank of England and the IMF both warn that the share prices of AI companies are very high and could fall sharply, and that borrowing to pay for AI is a growing risk. Neither forecasts a crash of the whole economy. In July 2026 the Bank judged UK households, businesses and banks to be resilient. The same month, the ONS found that most UK firms using AI had not changed their staff numbers so far.
What is genuinely unknown. Whether AI shares are a bubble, how far a fall would spread, and how many jobs AI will change over the next decade. The IMF says about 60% of jobs in advanced economies are exposed to AI, which is not the same as being lost. Nobody knows yet, and anyone who says they do is guessing.
Sources: Bank of England, July 2026; Bank of England, December 2025; IMF, 14 October 2025; IMF, 14 January 2024; ONS, 20 July 2026.