Panic buying at the pumps has already begun today amid fears fuel rationing is on the way due to the UK's crippling HGV driver shortage - as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tried to calm nerves by urging Britons 'carry on as normal'.
Queues of cars were seen spilling out on to the road from forecourts in Tonbridge, Kent, in Ely, Cambridgeshire, Bright and Leeds this morning - just a day after fuel bosses warned of petrol and diesel rationing and petrol station closures.
The scenes of queues outside petrol stations - which for some will stir up memories of the 1973 Opec Oil Crisis and the 2000 fuel shortage - come amid fears of a 1978-style 'winter of discontent' for the UK, with skyrocketing energy prices, food shortages and fuel rationing.
Yesterday BP announced plans to ration fuel and shut a 'handful' of petrol stations, supermarkets warned of food shortages and more energy firms went bust amid rising gas prices - sparking fears of a new 'winter of discontent'.
And in a particularly unhelpful addition to the problem, eco-mob Insulate Britain returned to the roads today to block off a route to Port of Dover - Europe's busiest port and the UK's main gateway for trade from the EU.
It comes as Petrol Retailers Association last night warned drivers to 'keep a quarter of a tank' of fuel in their vehicles in preparation for potential closures of local petrol stations.
Meanwhile Ministers faced fresh pressure to ease immigration rules as an emergency measure to attract HGV drivers from overseas amid warnings that 100,000 more were needed across the industry.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps today hinted at the possibility, saying he would move 'heaven and earth' to tackle the 'systemic issue' of HGV driver shortages.
He also claimed transport firms were offering huge salaries in a bid to entice drivers who have left the industry to come back - with one 'top milk firm' apparently offering as much as '£78,000-a-year'.
Meanwhile, one vegetable firm in Lincolnshire is currently advertising a broccoli picker role for £30-per-hour - equivalent to around £62,000-a-year.
Government source warned last night that Downing Street is growing increasingly 'worried' over a brewing 'winter of discontent' - with Christmas ruined by soaring energy bills, shortages and Universal Credit cuts.
Ministers are said to have drawn up plans to put soldiers on standby in case they are required to drive petrol tankers in case of severe crisis.
When questioned about this on BBC Breakfast, Mr Shapps said: 'If it can actually help, we will bring them in.'
But he urged people not to panic buy, telling Sky News: 'The advice would be to carry on as normal, and that's what BP are saying as well.'
Among the issues threatening a winter of discontent are:
- A shortage of natural gas causing a spike in gas bills for millions of Britons, along with the possibility of dozens of small energy firms going bust;
- However ministers say 'there is question of the lights going out, of people being unable to heat their homes. There will be no three-day working week, or a throwback to the 1970s';
- A shortage of natural gas leading to the closure of fertiliser plants, which produce the CO2 used in fizzy drinks and the meat industry;
- The Government has since agreed a deal with fertiliser firms to restart a factory in a bid to maintain CO2 production;
- A lorry driver shortage which is crippling the UK's transport industry, leaving to empty shelves and slow delivery times;
- Bosses say this could impact both of Christmas dinners and have an impact on the number of toys on the shelves;
- Now bosses of major fuel firms have warned they will have to start shutting petrol stations because there are not enough lorry drivers to effectively distribute to all of its petrol stations.
It comes as the UK's Agriculture Secretary George Eustice has indicated that the government is preparing to extend a seasonal worker scheme to tackle labour shortages across food production. The scheme could also be extended to include other industries suffering from labour shortages.
Yesterday BP said it will restrict deliveries of fuel because of a lack of HGV drivers, which has also impacted supermarkets and raised fears of food and even toy shortages over the Christmas period. The oil giant is understood to have informed the Government that its ability to transport petrol and diesel from its refineries is being heavily impacted by the supply chain crisis. The oil giant is understood to have informed the Government that its ability to transport petrol and diesel from its refineries is being heavily impacted by the supply chain crisis.
BP's Head of UK Retail, Hanna Hofer, told the Cabinet Office last Thursday that it was important that the Government understood the 'urgency of the situation' which she branded 'bad, very bad'.
Ms Hofer warned that the company had 'two thirds of normal forecourt stock levels required for smooth operations' and that levels were 'declining rapidly'. The restricting of deliveries is expected to begin 'very soon'.
Meanwhile, there have been reports of Tesco petrol stations closing or running out of fuel in Dorset, the Isle of Wight and Devon, however it is believed that the incidents of shortages are only affecting two sites. ExxonMobil, which operates Esso, added that some of its 200 Tesco Alliance sites were affected.
A Tesco spokesperson however said supermarkets still had a 'good availability of fuel, with deliveries arriving at our petrol filling stations across the UK every day.'
However one petrol station owner told BBC Radio 4 she had already run out of fuel once. Lisa Stevenson, owner of the Tolladine Service Station in Worcester, told the Today Programme: 'My order was supposed to come on Thursday last week, it didn't arrive.
'My distributor said it would be delivered on Friday, he then phoned me back said 'unfortunately we have a lack of drivers' and that it won't be delivered until Monday.'
Asked if she had run out of petrol at that point, she said: 'We did indeed yes.' Asked if it would happen again, she said: 'Most definitely, as we come into the winter.'
However motorists and shoppers have been urged not to panic buy fuel and goods, with a Government spokeswoman saying: 'There is no shortage of fuel in the UK, and people should continue to buy fuel as normal.'
Gerald Ronson, owner of almost 300 Rontec - BP, Texaco and forecourts across the country, told The Telegraph he expects fuel court disruption to last for more than four weeks.
He said: 'With everybody coming back to work - more cars on the road because people don't want to use buses or trains - this has drained a lot of fuel.'
The news is the latest sign of the UK struggling to cope because of an ongoing shortage of HGV drivers which comes alongside a worsening energy crisis.
Mr Shapps said he hoped the issue would 'smooth out very quickly' after the Government introduced changes to tests.
He told Sky News: 'The problem is not new there's been a lack of drivers actually for many months during this pandemic because as your report said during the lockdown drivers couldn't be passed through their lorry/HGV tests and that's what's been the problem.
'But many more tests are being made available now so we should see it smooth out very quickly.
On short term visas, he said: 'I'll look at everything we can and we'll move heaven and earth to make sure shortages are alleviated.'
Meanwhile, he told BBC Radio 4 that former drivers were being offered huge salaries in order to entice them back to the industry.
He said: 'A lot of people are coming into to the market, I don't have to do that, salaries are doing that.
'For example there's a milk distributor, the largest one, offering £78,000 to drive a lorry. There's a lot of additional pressure for drivers, and the market is responding by paying higher salaries.
'But the principle bottleneck is making sure they can get tests.'
It comes as Avro Energy and Green yesterday became the latest energy firms to go out of business as soaring gas prices continued to batter the sector.
Wholesale prices for gas have increased 250 per cent since the start of the year, and 70 per cent since August, meaning firms are buying energy for more than they sell it to customers.
Nine firms have now ceased trading this year, with the head of regulator Ofgem warning more are likely to follow suit, leaving 'well above' hundreds of thousands of customers in limbo.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng yesterday suggested people should be hoping for a warm autumn to ease gas prices as he said the weather is the 'single most important determinant' of costs.
Food supply chains have been placed under intense stress in recent weeks because of the shortage of around 100,000 HGV drivers - with empty shelves across many UK supermarkets as a result.
Supply chains were further disrupted after two plants that produce 60 per cent of the UK's CO2 were shut down amid the rising gas prices. CO2 is used for everything from the humane slaughter of chickens and pigs, to putting the fizz in soft drinks and creating packaging that keeps foods fresh.
Now, there are fears that shortages could bite households in the run-up to Christmas.
The classic Christmas dinner could be decimated, with turkey, pigs in blankets, potatoes and brussel sprouts all at risk.