Emergency preparedness guide

The government's Be Ready advice: what it covers, and what it leaves out

The short answer: Be Ready is sensible, cheap and worth doing. It is built for a short disruption of about three days. It is a first step, not a plan for a longer or wider crisis.

On 22 October 2026 the Cabinet Office launched Be Ready, the first stage of a three-year campaign. It asks households to prepare for temporary interruptions to electricity, water, phones and internet. The government is not presenting it as a prediction that a major attack or disaster is imminent. It is aimed at making ordinary households better able to cope for a few days.

What Be Ready asks you to do

As reported at launch, the checklist covers:

• Water: three days' worth, at three litres per person per day for drinking, plus extra for cooking and washing.
• Food: three days of food that needs no fridge and no cooking, such as tins, dried fruit and nuts. Buy what you normally eat.
• Light and warmth: a torch with spare batteries (safer than candles), plus blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothes.
• Communication: a battery or wind-up radio, with news station frequencies written down, and a charged power bank.
• Money and papers: cash in notes and coins, copies of key documents, and a written list of emergency contacts.
• Health and hygiene: a first aid kit, essential medication, hand sanitiser and wipes. Order repeat prescriptions up to five working days before you need them.
• Babies and pets: formula (ready-to-feed is easiest), nappies, pet food and extra water.
• Neighbours: talk to the people around you about who might need help.

The three-day figure matches advice already used in France, Ireland and the Netherlands. The government's stated aim is that if households who can prepare do so, emergency services can concentrate on the people who need them most.

Why a three-day limit matters

Three days is a realistic target for most households, and it covers the most likely events: a storm, a local power cut, a burst main. The National Audit Office reported in September 2026 that, compared with several other countries, "UK households are less prepared for emergencies", and that government messaging on household preparation has been less prominent. Getting people to three days is a real improvement on that.

The same report is blunt about the bigger picture. It found that the government's plans for severe food supply disruption "lack operational detail and industry involvement" and that the capability and capacity of local resilience forums to respond to food supply disruption is insufficient. In other words, the system you would be relying on after day three is one the NAO found underdeveloped.

What the three-day advice leaves out

None of these are criticisms of Be Ready. They are the gaps a three-day checklist cannot be expected to fill.

1. What if it lasts longer? Shops can take weeks, not days, to refill after panic buying, even once the cause is fixed. Our supermarket guide explains why. Two weeks of food and water is a more realistic safety margin.
2. Quantities. As reported at launch, the checklist gives no food quantity per person and does not say how much cash to hold. A useful rule of thumb is 2,000 to 2,500 kcal per adult per day, and enough cash for about a week of essentials.
3. Toilets. The checklist mentions hygiene and bathroom products, but says little about what to do if water or sewers stop working. Our water guide covers the bucket flush and when not to flush.
4. Warmth and power for more than a phone. A power bank keeps phones and a radio running. It will not run a fridge or heating, and fixed solar panels alone will not run a UK home through winter.
5. Payments. Cash helps only if it is the right kind: plenty of small notes and some coins, because shops may have no change in an outage.
6. Your street and your area. Every part of the UK has a Local Resilience Forum, bringing together police, fire, councils and utilities. Most people have never heard of theirs, and it is worth two minutes to find out what yours covers.

A sensible way to use Be Ready

• Treat three days as week one of your plan, not the finish line.
• Add a little to each normal shop until you reach two weeks. It costs little, and you will never be in the queue.
• Write down the numbers you would need if your phone died: 105 for power cuts in England, Scotland and Wales, your water company's emergency line, and your council's.

Our free printable checklist lays out the three-day and two-week quantities side by side.

• Free printable checklist: preparing beyond three days
• How much water do you need per person in a power cut?
• How long would UK supermarkets last in a crisis?