🇬🇧 The UK is planning for a "Black Sky" blackout affecting nearly 70 MILLION people. A Black Sky is when the power goes out for days and takes water, shops and communications with it. A recent UK resilience summit focused on withstanding one for at least 72 hours, per the BBC. When floods cut power to 61,500 people in Lancaster in 2015, all of these failed: 1. Lights and heating 2. Some water supplies, which relied on electric pumps 3. The railway station 4. Petrol stations and shops 5. Traffic lights 6. Most cash machines Which communication systems kept working? Only copper landlines and FM radio. The issue climbed the agenda after the April 2025 blackout across Spain, Portugal and southwestern France. The UK's backup plans include: • About 100 BBC staff ready to run an emergency studio with fuel, food and water for at least three days. • Emergency broadcast scripts already online, including how to dispose of toilet waste without flushing. • £70 MILLION of government spending to develop high-altitude aircraft for at least a week of emergency phone and internet. And on January 31, 2027, the UK switches off its copper landlines. The government says there is no specific threat to the grid, which has never had a complete outage in 75 years. Cash, cards or crypto: what would you rely on if the power went out for three days?