Power Cut Kit

The three-day emergency kit for UK homes

The government's Be Ready list explained: water at 3 litres per person a day, food, torch, FM radio, power bank, cash, documents, medicines, baby and pet supplies.

2 min reading time / Next check planned by 2026-11-24

The official list

The government's Be Ready campaign asks every household to keep enough to manage for three days without power, water or shops (gov.uk). The checklist, in its own groups:

Group What to keep
Water Bottled water for 3 days: 3 litres per person per day to drink, plus extra for cooking and washing
Food Food for 3 days that needs no fridge and no cooking, ideally food you normally eat
Hygiene Hand sanitiser, wet wipes, toilet and bathroom products
Light and warmth A torch with spare batteries; blankets, sleeping bags or warm clothes
Communication A battery or wind-up FM radio; a charged power bank
Money and papers Cash in coins and notes, bank cards, printed copies of important documents, a list of key contacts and medicines
Medical A first aid kit and essential medicines; request repeat prescriptions up to 5 working days ahead
Babies Ready-to-feed formula (preferred), nappies, wipes
Pets Pet food and bottled water

How much water is that?

Three litres per person per day for three days is 9 litres each. A family of two adults and two children needs 36 litres to drink, about six 6-litre packs, before anything for cooking or washing. The app works this out for your household and for longer periods if you want them.

Where to keep it

Somewhere everyone knows, cool and dry, away from sunlight. Put a date on the water and food and check the kit when the clocks change, twice a year: batteries, power bank charge, use-by dates and prescriptions.

A grab bag and the car

Be Ready also suggests a small grab bag with essentials in case you need to leave home quickly, and a few supplies in the car for winter: a blanket, water, a torch and a phone charger.

Buying the kit in one go

If you start from nothing, the quickest route is: multipacks of bottled water, a box of long-life food you already eat, a manual tin opener, a wind-up or battery torch with spare batteries, a battery or wind-up FM radio, a power bank, a first aid kit, a waterproof wallet for documents, and blankets. Ready-made kits exist; check them against the official list above, because most leave out water, medicines and documents.

What to look for in a torch, power bank and radio, and what to do when the power goes.