Explore emergency kit planning

The Cabinet Office launched Be Ready on 22 October 2026, asking households across the UK to prepare for three days of disruption to services such as electricity, water and communications. This report was written on 30 October.

The three-year campaign updates the Prepare website, first launched in May 2024. The Cabinet Office says much of the household advice remains unchanged.

What the three-day advice means at home

The official checklist starts with what is already in your cupboards. It recommends adding missing items during normal shopping, as money allows, rather than buying everything at once.

Allow three litres per person daily for drinking: 18 litres for two adults over three days. Cooking and washing need extra water. Use our water guide to plan storage.

Choose familiar food needing no cooking or refrigeration. Check lighting, bedding, radio, phone charging, medicines, baby and pet supplies too. Review supplies every six months.

Three days is a planning allowance. It is not a promise that a damaged water main or electricity line will be repaired within that time.

Start with the free actions

Check eligibility for the Priority Services Register, which helps utilities identify people needing extra support. Write down useful phone numbers and agree who will check on a neighbour.

A useful first evening's work is simply finding the torch, checking it works and agreeing where it will stay. Then identify one actual gap in the cupboard. A family that already keeps suitable food may need drinking water; someone living alone may need a paper contact list more urgently than another gadget.

Use local sources during an incident

The campaign website explicitly says it will not carry live emergency information. Keep the relevant utility and local authority routes alongside the checklist. It directs people in Scotland and Northern Ireland to Ready Scotland and nidirect for locally tailored advice.

For a practical way to record your own arrangements, use our household plan tool.

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