The growing intensity and duration of heatwaves in the UK is threatening the nation’s food supply chains, prompting the Cold Chain Federation (CCF) to call for temperature-controlled warehouses to be designated as Critical National Infrastructure.
The CCF says increasingly hotter heatwaves, combined with constraints on electricity supplies as temperatures soar, are creating a significant risk to the warehouse storage of temperature controlled foods and pharmaceuticals, according to a report by The Mirror.
The federation points out that around half of the UK’s food passes through approximately 460 temperature-controlled warehouses before reaching retailers, foodservice operators and healthcare providers, making the sector a critical part of the national logistics network.
Phil Pluck, CCF chief executive, told The Mirror that refrigeration systems are increasingly being forced to operate beyond the conditions they were originally designed for.
He said: “You’ve got 50C on the roof surface and below that roof you’re operating at -20C, so there’s a 70C difference.
“Our units have to work harder just to maintain that and keep food safe. They are simply not designed for the kind of temperatures we are experiencing.”
The CCF also highlighted concerns over electricity availability during periods of peak demand, claiming one CCF member was unable to secure additional electricity during the recent June heatwave because its local network had reached capacity.
Tom Southall, CCF deputy chief executive said members are increasingly concerned about constraints on energy supplies and the resilience of ageing refrigeration infrastructure during increasingly longer and hotter heatwaves.
Southall said: “The industry needs power to keep food cold, and that’s becoming an emerging threat.
“There are already questions around how the electricity system will cope with increasing demand as temperatures rise.”
Southall warned that while operators can generally manage short periods of extreme heat, longer heatwaves, resulting from climate change, could begin to affect refrigeration performance.
“If we started experiencing those temperatures for more than five days, some of those systems would start failing.
“Consumers would start to see gaps on the shelves caused by a lack of supply.”
The federation is also warning that the UK’s reliance on a relatively small number of cold storage facilities also exposes the sector to cyber attacks.
Pluck warned that if one or two major operators were hit by a cyber attack, this would hit supplies which could quickly trigger panic buying by consumers.
The CCF is calling on government to designate cold storage facilities as Critical National Infrastructure, giving the sector access to enhanced security support and greater protection during electricity supply emergencies, including priority access to power alongside other essential services.
Southall told the Mirror that cold stores currently do not benefit from the same emergency grid protections afforded to sectors such as healthcare.
“There is an emergency code for the grid that prioritises hospitals and other critical infrastructure, but cold stores don’t currently have that protection,” he said.
“Our argument is that those sites should receive some support or protection as critical assets.”
The National Energy System Operator (NESO) countered CCF’s claims. In a statement, NESO said: “Britain has one of the most reliable energy systems in the world.
“We are of course confident that households and businesses can continue to use electricity as normal during hot weather.”
