In what it called an “unlikely” scenario, the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO) said households and businesses might face planned three-hour outages to ensure the grid does not collapse.
If it was to happen, it would be the first time in five decades that the UK is affected by such power outages.
Blackouts famously hit the UK during the 1970s in response to the miners’ strikes and the oil crisis.
The industrial action - prompted by miners demanding pay in line with inflation rates - eventually led to Edward Heath's Conservative government imposing a three-day week in 1974 to save electricity supplies.
Those early '70s blackouts were characterised by bizarre scenes from haircuts in the street to long queues for candles. Here, Yahoo News UK digs into the picture archives to show how Britons handled the repeated blackouts.
People in London in February 1972 using candles to read newspaper headlines about the continuing miners' strike. Pay talks aimed at ending the five-week strike had failed and Britain was plunged into a power crisis. (Getty Images)
People read notices about reduced train services, due to power cuts, at Birmingham New Street station in February 1972. (Getty Images)
Customers having their hair cut on the pavement in Hatton Garden, London, due to power cuts following a miners' strike in February 1972. (Getty Images)
University students chop logs in Birmingham in February 1972 amid the power crisis. (Getty Images)
The Cecil Gee menswear store in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, advertises 5p haircuts during the power cuts in February 1972. (Getty Images)
Radio London newsreader Alan Rogers tells listeners about the power crisis - with candles lighting his studio - during the blackout in February 1972. (Getty Images)
A candlelit wine shop in Birmingham remains open during a blackout in December 1973. (Getty Images)
A post office in Trafalgar Square, London, functioning under emergency lamplight amid the industrial power strikes. (Getty Images)
A man in 18th century dress asks a couple in London's Leicester Square to sign a petition against the government's attempt to save energy with a three-day working week in February 1974. (Getty Images)
Customers and staff in Oxford Street's HMV during a power cut in December 1973. Power cuts, intended to conserve fuel during the miners' strike, had become a regular occurrence. (Getty Images)
Four women working in an office in Bond Street, London, during the power cuts of 1973/74, which were caused by the miners' strike. Luckily for them, the cold was not a problem as they worked for Slumberdown and were able to wrap themselves in quilts. (Getty Images)
Members of the public, anticipating power cuts, queue outside a Robert Dyas branch in Fleet Street, London, to purchase candles. (Getty Images)
A candlelit pub in Newcastle-upon-Tyne following a power cut in December 1970. (Getty Images)
The early 1970s brought shortages and fuel rationing also, this time in Bearwood, Birmingham. (Birmingham Post and Mail Archive/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
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