Security advisers have warned British families to prepare 72-hour "survival kits" amid growing fears that Russia is plotting to sabotage the UK's energy infrastructure.
The alert comes as Britain has become increasingly dependent on foreign energy supplies following the pursuit of Net Zero environmental targets.
Nearly 40 per cent of the UK's gas supply is imported from Norway, much of which comes through the single, 700-mile Langeled pipeline.
As the UK has closed coal-fired power stations in pursuit of environmental targets, the country has become increasingly reliant on supplies of gas and electricity from abroad to "keep the lights on".
Concerns that the Russians are planning a sabotage operation have escalated since their spy ship, the Yantar, was detected mapping the UK's critical underwater infrastructure in the North Sea in recent months.
Defence Secretary John Healey last year ordered a Royal Navy nuclear submarine to surface near the Yantar after suspicions it was interfering with subsea cables in the Irish Sea.
Security experts argue that British households should follow the EU's example by preparing a three-day survival kit, including water, non-perishable food, medicines, a battery-powered radio, a torch, identity documents and a Swiss Army knife.
With the UK reported to have come close to blackouts during the past winter, security concerns have heightened. The nation was saved only by emergency reserves and electricity imported undersea from Denmark.
MORE LIKE THIS:
A source told The Mail: "We know that the Russians are active in the North Sea and have the power to cripple our energy links."
The protection of critical undersea infrastructure will form part of the Government's Strategic Defence Review by former Nato secretary-general Lord Robertson this year.
It comes after Moscow was linked to a string of apparent sabotage incidents in the Baltic Sea in the past two years, affecting cable and pipeline links. Germany's Nord Stream gas pipelines were also sabotaged in 2022.
Separately, the Russians are also believed to have placed listening devices on offshore UK wind turbines in an attempt to track the movement of British submarines.
"We need to become much more self-sufficient, and quickly. And households should be ready for all eventualities," the source added.
MPs fear that Ed Miliband's obsession with Net Zero has made Britain more vulnerable to Russian sabotage.
Tory MP Nick Timothy said: "The pursuit of decarbonisation at all costs leaves us less secure and with energy prices that are terrible for families and ruinous for business. Ed Miliband is making us more and more dependent on electricity imports."
The Energy Secretary has pledged to make Britain a "clean energy superpower" by using fossil fuels for no more than five per cent of its electricity by 2030.
The UK's last coal power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar was shut down last September after running since 1967. In the coming years, the UK is also likely to lose at least two nuclear power stations.
On January 8, Britain is understood to have come closer than it has for many years to having to impose electricity blackouts.
Freezing temperatures and outages on some interconnectors and gas-fired power stations coincided with reduced wind power generation.
The crisis was averted when operators paid about £17million to keep two gas power plants running.
The UK's most important pipeline, the Langeled, runs from Norway's Nyhamna gas processing plant to the Easington gas terminal in County Durham.
It carries up to 26 billion cubic metres of gas to the UK each year, more than a third of what the country consumes annually.
Dr Sidharth Kaushal from defence thinktank RUSI warned it represents "essentially a single point of failure within the system".
A Government spokesman said: "Investing in clean power and the economic opportunity it provides will boost our security and bring down bills.
"It also removes any dependency on hostile states, which we are countering further in the case of Russia by supporting Ukraine, standing by our Nato allies and disrupting Russian malign activity."
The spokesman added there were no plans to encourage households to pack survival kits.
Find Out More...
The alert comes as Britain has become increasingly dependent on foreign energy supplies following the pursuit of Net Zero environmental targets.
Nearly 40 per cent of the UK's gas supply is imported from Norway, much of which comes through the single, 700-mile Langeled pipeline.
As the UK has closed coal-fired power stations in pursuit of environmental targets, the country has become increasingly reliant on supplies of gas and electricity from abroad to "keep the lights on".
Concerns that the Russians are planning a sabotage operation have escalated since their spy ship, the Yantar, was detected mapping the UK's critical underwater infrastructure in the North Sea in recent months.
Defence Secretary John Healey last year ordered a Royal Navy nuclear submarine to surface near the Yantar after suspicions it was interfering with subsea cables in the Irish Sea.
Security experts argue that British households should follow the EU's example by preparing a three-day survival kit, including water, non-perishable food, medicines, a battery-powered radio, a torch, identity documents and a Swiss Army knife.
With the UK reported to have come close to blackouts during the past winter, security concerns have heightened. The nation was saved only by emergency reserves and electricity imported undersea from Denmark.
MORE LIKE THIS:
- Vladimir Putin warns Russia won't accept Donald Trump’s peace proposals 'while Zelensky is in power'
- Putin supporters turn on Kremlin over Muslim migration fearing 'social explosion' similar to France
- Vladimir Putin issues warning to Donald Trump amid threats to strike Iran over nuclear deal - 'Catastrophic consequences'
A source told The Mail: "We know that the Russians are active in the North Sea and have the power to cripple our energy links."
The protection of critical undersea infrastructure will form part of the Government's Strategic Defence Review by former Nato secretary-general Lord Robertson this year.
It comes after Moscow was linked to a string of apparent sabotage incidents in the Baltic Sea in the past two years, affecting cable and pipeline links. Germany's Nord Stream gas pipelines were also sabotaged in 2022.
Separately, the Russians are also believed to have placed listening devices on offshore UK wind turbines in an attempt to track the movement of British submarines.
"We need to become much more self-sufficient, and quickly. And households should be ready for all eventualities," the source added.
MPs fear that Ed Miliband's obsession with Net Zero has made Britain more vulnerable to Russian sabotage.
Tory MP Nick Timothy said: "The pursuit of decarbonisation at all costs leaves us less secure and with energy prices that are terrible for families and ruinous for business. Ed Miliband is making us more and more dependent on electricity imports."
The Energy Secretary has pledged to make Britain a "clean energy superpower" by using fossil fuels for no more than five per cent of its electricity by 2030.
The UK's last coal power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar was shut down last September after running since 1967. In the coming years, the UK is also likely to lose at least two nuclear power stations.
On January 8, Britain is understood to have come closer than it has for many years to having to impose electricity blackouts.
Freezing temperatures and outages on some interconnectors and gas-fired power stations coincided with reduced wind power generation.
The crisis was averted when operators paid about £17million to keep two gas power plants running.
The UK's most important pipeline, the Langeled, runs from Norway's Nyhamna gas processing plant to the Easington gas terminal in County Durham.
It carries up to 26 billion cubic metres of gas to the UK each year, more than a third of what the country consumes annually.
Dr Sidharth Kaushal from defence thinktank RUSI warned it represents "essentially a single point of failure within the system".
A Government spokesman said: "Investing in clean power and the economic opportunity it provides will boost our security and bring down bills.
"It also removes any dependency on hostile states, which we are countering further in the case of Russia by supporting Ukraine, standing by our Nato allies and disrupting Russian malign activity."
The spokesman added there were no plans to encourage households to pack survival kits.
Find Out More...