Here are some simple and effective steps you can take to be ready for emergencies and the disruption they cause. Many of these activities can be helpful across a range of different types of emergency. You can also download the Be Ready checklist .
There are lots of suggestions here that won’t cost anything and just take a few minutes to do.
For various reasons, not everyone will be able to take all the actions in the guidance and some people will only follow a few of the recommended steps. The details below provide basic advice on how to prepare, so you can take the steps that work for you.
Community groups and volunteers plan and prepare for emergencies, often working with emergency responders to get help to those who need it most.
Call 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger
Be Ready checklist
Being ready for 3 days helps you manage while support reaches those most in need.
Doing this is easier than you might think. You could have some of the items at home already.
You don’t need to do it all at once. Build up your readiness gradually over time by taking it step by step, and picking up an extra item or two when you can.
How to get started:
- See what you already have: Check your cupboards first to see what essentials you already keep at home.
- Plan for your household: Note down what you still need, remembering items your family relies on, such as medical supplies, baby formula or pet food.
- Build it gradually: Pick up missing items when you can during your regular shopping trips to help spread the cost.
- Check it regularly: Set a reminder every six months to check expiry dates and swap out items that need replacing, or update your kit if your household’s needs have changed.
- Connect with your community: Talk to your neighbours about what extra support you might be able to share during an outage, and swap contact details.
Use the checklist below to see what you have and consider anything else you might need.
| Category | Items to check off |
|---|---|
| Water | ☐ Bottled water for 3 days 3 litres per person per day for drinking. More would be needed for other tasks such as cooking and washing. |
| Food | ☐ Non-perishable food for 3 days Food with a long shelf life that doesn’t need refrigeration or cooking e.g. tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts. It’s best to buy food you’d usually eat. |
| Hygiene | ☐ Hand sanitiser, wet wipes and bathroom products |
| Light and warmth | ☐ Torch (and spare batteries) Torches are safer than candles. ☐ Blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothing Homes can become cold very quickly when the heating goes off. |
| Communication and information | ☐ FM radio (battery / wind up) For updates during outages, write down frequencies of any national or local radio stations you use for news. ☐ Charged power bank To charge phones or compatible medical devices. |
| Money and documents | ☐ Cash (mix of coins and notes) and cards In case electronic payments or ATMs are disrupted. The amount of cash you should keep depends on your family’s specific needs for essentials. ☐ Copies of IDs / documents Have printed copies of important documents such as passports, birth certificates, insurance policy details and instructions for any medical equipment you rely on. ☐ Important phone numbers and information Write down contact details of who you’d need to contact in an emergency (including anyone who might need checking on) and a list of any regular medication and doses. |
| Medical and health | ☐ First aid kit / first aid items Including items such as waterproof plasters, bandages, a thermometer, antiseptic, eyewash solution, sterile dressings and gloves, medical tape for dressings, and tweezers. ☐ Essential medication and medical supplies Always leave enough time to request repeat prescriptions so you have less chance of running out in an emergency. It’s important to request prescriptions up to 5 working days before you need your medicine. |
| Baby products | ☐ Baby formula Ready-made or ‘ready-to-feed’ formula is best, as you may not be able to boil water to make up powdered formula safely. ☐ Nappies and wipes |
| Pet products | ☐ Pet food and bottled water |
If you have any extra items, you could consider donating these to others who might not have the means to prepare their own households. You may be able to help someone by photocopying or printing important documents for them.
Be informed
- Sign up for alerts and warnings and find out about different types of hazards and emergencies.
- Find out more about risks in your local area including checking your flood risk for areas in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Learn some basic first aid skills. Check online to find free workshops or ask if your employer will pay for a course.
- Check if the place where you work or volunteer has a plan for what you should do if you cannot contact them during an emergency, for example in a power cut.
Find out if you are eligible to sign up to the Priority Services Register (PSR)
Visit thepsr.co.uk to find out if you are eligible and sign up to the Priority Service Register – this lets your electricity, gas and water providers know that you need additional support, including when there is an interruption to your supply. Lots of households are eligible, including those with children under 5.
This service is available to customers in England, Scotland and Wales – if you are in Northern Ireland these are called Customer Care Registers.
Make a plan
- Use our downloadable and printable household emergency plan. You could keep this with other important documents such as passports, birth certificates and insurance policies so it’s easier to gather them quickly if needed.
- Work out the best escape route from your home if there is a fire or what you should do if your home floods – if you live with others, including children, discuss this with them.
- Decide on a meeting point with family members in case you cannot return home or contact each other for a period of time. Choose places that are easy to find and open to the public in your community, or you might agree to meet at a family member’s home if it is safe to do so.
- Agree on a backup plan with anyone who might need extra support, particularly if they live alone. You could agree that if an outage happens and you cannot call, you or another trusted person they know will visit them in person. Remind them that they should follow the advice of the emergency services if they are asked to evacuate for their safety.
- You can also speak to the neighbours of anyone you would be worried about in an outage and agree that they will check on them.
- Write down important phone numbers on paper and store them somewhere easy to find in a power cut. Include the phone number to report a power cut (105 in England, Scotland and Wales and 03457 643643 in Northern Ireland), phone numbers of anyone you would want to contact in an emergency, a list of your regular medication, frequencies of radio stations you use for news updates, and insurance policy details.
- Add emergency contacts or medical information to your mobile phone (often called ‘ICE’ or ‘Medical ID’ on smartphones) so that emergency services can access this information without having to unlock your phone with a passcode – consider the sensitivity of the information you are including (anyone could see it who has access to your mobile phone) and let the person you’ve selected as your emergency contact know.
- Check your child’s school (or other childcare provider) has the correct contact numbers for you in case they need to contact you during an emergency. Your child’s school should have plans and procedures in place to deal with different types of emergencies, for example for severe weather, loss of utilities and fire.
Prepare your home
- Complete an online home fire safety check to help keep you and your home safe from fire.
- Set a reminder in your phone or make a note on your calendar to check your smoke alarms at least once a month – the Fire Kills campaign website has advice on fire safety in the home.
- Know how to turn off your gas, electricity and water – you’ll need to turn these off if you have to leave your home due to flooding or for other reasons such as if there’s a leak.
- Check the right insurance is in place for your home (or business), for example, flood insurance.
- If you live in a flood risk area, find out more actions you can take to prepare your property.
- You could consider keeping some essential items you might need to take with you if asked to leave your home quickly in a spare bag – you might hear some people call this a ‘grab bag’.
- Have a look at the hot weather, cold weather and storms pages for more advice on how you can prepare your property.
- Pack a few essential items in your car boot to make sure you’re ready in case of getting stuck in wintry weather – this can include a torch, in-car phone charger, warm clothes and blankets, high-visibility clothing, jump leads, food and drink, and a shovel for snow. It can also be helpful to keep a first aid kit in your car.
Talk to others
- Talk about the advice on this website and pass on information about the support available – help your friends, family, neighbours and colleagues to undertake the simple actions on this website, if they can.
- Swap contact details with neighbours and consider creating an instant messaging group or other closed online social network for your street or building – these can be an important source of information and support during an emergency.
- Ask your neighbours if they might have additional support needs during an emergency – they may have additional medical needs, be new to the area, are not able to use the internet or technology well, or not speak or read English well. Talk to them about the help available and how you can support them.
- Make a plan to check in on neighbours if an emergency happens, particularly if the power goes out.
- Talk to children about what to do in an emergency, including how and when to call the emergency services – the Staywise website includes information and resources on emergencies aimed at children. You can also help them to learn their home address and if possible, a parent/guardian’s mobile phone number – practise these regularly.