Londoners advised to stockpile three days of food as fears grow over polar vortex

British Gas has given advice on how to prepare for heavy snowfall amid concerns over the polar vortex that could cause chaos in London and across the UK this winter.

Experts have warned the incoming El Niño, a natural climate phenomenon characterised by the warming of sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, could be one of the worst on record.

A research paper published by the US government's NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory concluded that El Niño "tends to promote the breakdown of the polar vortex, especially in late winter".

The polar vortex is a band of strong westerly winds that circles around the North Pole and traps bitterly cold air near the Arctic - but a weakened or disrupted vortex becomes "wavy" and allows cold air to spill southward into North America and Europe.

That would make the UK likely to face extremely cold, windy and snowy conditions over the coming months.

People have been told to stock up on essentials in case of heavy snow this winter

PA

It recommends gathering essential supplies, saying its good to have at least three days’ worth of food and essentials stored in an easy-to-reach part of your home.

It says that emergency kit should include medicines, drinking water, non-perishable food and snacks, and extra blankets.

Other advice includes improving home insulation, protecting pipes against freezing, and checking your car’s brakes, heater, tyres and windscreen wipers to see they are in good working order.

It says “if you can keep your fuel tank half full during snowy conditions, all the better.”

It also advises checking in on elderly or vulnerable relatives and neighbours to make sure they’ve got everything they need to get through a cold snap.

The Met has said a Polar Vortex breakdown could happen, though it is not certain: "The current El Niño is unprecedented in terms of its strength at present and various seasonal modelling centres predict further strengthening over the next couple of months, with a predicted peak in November of December.

For the UK, El Niño increases the chances of a wetter and stormier late autumn and early winter period, which would also likely be milder than normal.

"Through the latter part of the winter, following a peak in El Niño, the stratospheric polar vortex (SPV) can become weaker, leading to an increased chance of Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) events unfurling, increasing the potential for cold weather. However, significant as El Niño is, it is important to emphasise that it alone does not determine precise weather patterns and other outcomes remain possible."