‘Went to bed just to keep warm’: Blackout horror of 1974 heard as National Grid plan looms

While this is only an “unlikely worst-case scenario”, it would not be the first time that Britons have gone without power. Similar to the Russian gas crisis which sent prices soaring over the last year, electricity also had to be rationed back in the 1970s amid a global oil crisis. 

Lasting for two months, the situation was also brought on by an industrial dispute with coal miners (coal was the main source of energy back then). 

Lynn Wolfson, 76, was living in Glasgow with her husband and two children in 1974, when then Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath was forced to implement a three-day working week in a bid to conserve energy.

Ms Wolfson said: “During the three-day week, with my husband being a doctor, he had to work long hours. I was just looking after the children.

“I remember having to buy flasks and boiling water and preparing hot water bottles. It is a bit like how people are preparing just now, there are so many similarities. 

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1707158/blackout-national-grid-three-day-week-1974-energy