“I think the entire UK is in meltdown”
There was fridge chaos in major supermarkets with shelves left empty amid the ‘extreme’ heatwave(Image: Manchester Evening News)
There was fridge chaos in major supermarkets with shelves left empty amid the ‘extreme’ heatwave sizzling the UK on Wednesday (June 24). Fridges and freezers in likes of Tesco and M&S stores were labelled with printed warnings as shoppers were met with bare aisles.
Tesco stores in Haslingden, Crewe and Altrincham were reported to have been left empty, with video footage shared with the Manchester Evening News. Pictures also showed out of order fridges in the Crewe M&S. There were reports of Sainsbury’s stores elsewhere in the UK also being affected.
The stores appeared to have issues with their refrigeration systems as the UK grappled with soaring temperatures in recent days, with shoppers saying they were struggling to get their hands on basket essentials like meats and milk. The issue appears to have affected a number of supermarket stores across the country.
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“Anyone thinking of going in Haslingden Tesco don’t bother! Pretty much all the fridge and freezers are broken,” one person wrote on social media. “Meat isle is completely empty and they won’t let you take anything out of the yogurt isle. Will be loads of food gone to waste today.”
Meanwhile videos and pictures showed scores of empty shelves in fridges at a Tesco store in Altrincham. A notice on the fridges read: “This unit is not currently in use. This is to ensure the remaining fridges/freezers in this store can operate at full capacity.”
And notices on the Crewe store fridges read: “Unfortunately this fridge is out of order.”
Notices on the Tesco fridges in Crewe (Image: Manchester Evening News)
Another shopper said there were ‘fridges and freezers off’ in the Crewe Tesco, adding: “At the M&S there were some broken fridges and some with notices saying they’ve been switched off. It was the same situation at Waitrose in Sandbach with broken down fridges. I think the entire UK is in meltdown.”
M&S in Crewe also had notices on the fridges(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Users on social media from elsewhere in the UK also shared their experiences on Wednesday, which marked the hottest June day on record. It reached a provisional temperature of 36C breaking the previous record from the summer of 1976.
One user wrote on X: “If anyone is desperate for M&S, do not go to High Wycombe retail park All the fridges are off-line literally only got dry stuff available,” as another posted a picture in a Tesco with a ‘refrigeration breakdown’ notice on it, penning: “The fridges in my local shop this morning couldn’t deal with the heat. Have you seen the same thing where you live?”
Meanwhile, a third user posted: “Anybody shopping in our little suburban town today will be unlucky. The 2 supermarkets, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s have malfunctioning, & consequently entirely empty, fridges. That tells you a) this isn’t normal & b) we’re not built for it.”
Empty shelves in the Altrincham Tesco store
(Image: Claire Holstead)
A Morrisons store in Swindon also issued an apology on Wednesday after pictures showed a row of empty freezers, citing a ‘maintenance issue’.
It comes as much of England and Wales swelters in exceptionally hot and humid conditions, which have prompted amber and a rare red warning from the Met Office for extreme heat, expected to last for the remainder of the week.
Tesco, M&S and Waitrose were approached for a comment.