Being somewhat exercised by the press coverage of the above topic I did some research as to if and how it might affect me or my wife. I have written to my MP on the topic and he has forwarded it on to the Home Office.
In short, on retirement some years ago my wife and I took up the long distance cruising life and until 2017 we had been away from the UK (where we both had had our careers since coming to the UK in 1968 (me) and 1969 (my wife) ) for well more than 5 complete years.
I am an Irish citizen and so I do not need to apply for Settled Status and am not affected by the new arrangements.
However my wife is a Norwegian citizen and so has lost the Indefinite Leave to Remain and Return which she got after we married (because of?) in London in 1972. So she can only apply for Pre Settled Status and cannot apply for full Settled Status until 2022 and she will need to show presence in the UK for at least 6 months a year! Trouble is having homes elsewhere we had not planned always to have to spend 6 months of each year in the UK! It may not be house arrest but it feels a bit like country arrest!
Points I have made to my MP apart from our own circumstances, include those of British and Irish citizens who may have taken up overseas long term positions (or being offered them now or in the future) will find themselves with the same problem!
Members with the same issue may wish to write to their MP too.

We are in a similar but different position... I'm a Brit that lived in the US for 30 years, my wife is American. I don't have a [legitimate] address in the UK - though will use my brother's when necessary - I therefore don't have an MP! We also took up long term cruising recently and are currently in European waters.

It turns out that at present, we can travel through Europe indefinitely since she is my spouse and I'm currently European, but in the UK her maximum stay is 6 months - unless she would have gained European residency by staying 6 months in a single European country - but we don't intend to stay in a single country for that long! After Brexit, who knows! Laurie is attempting Portuguese citizenship - which if successful should allow me to travel as her spouse...

Our plan is to get out of Dodge!

Bill Balme