It turns out fanciful and quite possibly nutty and dangerous thinking isn't limited to the Greens and Government-run supermarkets. 

Dame Angela Eagle, who is Environment Secretary in the UK, has announced the need for people to take the burgeoning El Niño so seriously that we need to start stocking up on food. 

This is a conflation of several things that affect a lot of us all over the world these days; new and developing weather. 

Patterns we haven't quite got a read on, given we have never really dealt with them, a growing amount of generalised alarmism and, of course, very poor leadership through a chronic and growing lack of genuine talent. 

El Niño this summer, or their winter, may or may not be a thing. We simply don’t know. 

Last report I read suggested that New Zealand may well do quite well, given prices for what we grow will most likely rise. 

In other words, it may flood in South America, be dry out in Australia, but we could be fine. 

But sadly the modern age has seen the astonishing rise of fear and alarmism. How many years has the phrase "before it's too late" been used when it comes to climate change? 

Just last week they rolled it out again as regards the 1.5 degrees they got fixated with a couple of decades back. 

"The point of no return" is an Antonio Guterres go to line. 

What we know for sure are volcanoes are worse for climate than we are and wars cause more crop damage than weather. 

But asking people to stock up seems a new low. Stock up with what? Canned beetroot? 

And to what extent are you stocking up, and for how long? Have you seen the size of the average British kitchen? 

By panicking before anything has happened, if and when nothing does happen, how is that going to go for your messaging and credibility if and when anything actually does happen and you actually need people to take you seriously? 

Vaccines and our attitude towards them were materially changed because of Covid. It's why America has measles and international targets are now routinely missed with kids. 

Leadership and proportionality go hand-in-hand. 

Scaring the horses, overreacting, panicking, getting captured by ideology - they all lead to trouble. 

My approach to summer is going to be very similar to last year. If I lived my life reacting to the environment secretary, alarmists or the NZ Herald's Harbour Bridge closure alerts, I'd be a nervous wreck with no cupboard space left. 

And who needs that?