A friendly, independent public-information service — not affiliated with the UK Government. In a life-threatening emergency, always call 999.
UK ReadyKnow what to do
Prepare

UK emergency preparedness — start here

Practical UK guidance for major emergencies, prolonged infrastructure disruption and conflict-related incidents. Prepare for consequences, not predictions.

WHAT TO DO NOW

  1. 1Turn on UK Emergency Alerts and keep a battery or wind-up FM radio — in the 2026 Cabinet Office survey only 23% of households had one.
  2. 2Write key contacts, medicines and reference numbers on paper (only 29% of households did).
  3. 3Store drinking water — aim for 72 hours (about 3 litres per person per day), then build towards 7 days where practical.
  4. 4Agree a household plan: two meeting points and an out-of-area contact.
  5. 5Sort medication, lighting and power (torch, spare batteries, charged power bank) — the things hardest to improvise safely.

What not to do

  • Do not treat planning documents (National Risk Register, defence reviews) as a prediction that an attack is imminent.
  • Do not panic-buy or hoard — build a rotating reserve during normal shopping.
  • Do not assume 'getting away' is always safer — the right action depends on the hazard.

What is it?

Preparedness is not the same as expecting catastrophe. Its purpose is to reduce the consequences of events that are hard to predict — severe weather, major power or water failure, cyber disruption, terrorism, hazardous-material or radiological incidents, or in an extreme case hostilities affecting the UK. The UK's 2026 national preparedness survey found only 13% of households felt largely prepared and just 14% had a household plan.

What might happen?

Everyday systems can fail together: electricity (no lighting, heating controls, refrigeration, broadband, card terminals); mobile/internet (no calls, maps, banking); water and sewage; transport; payments; food supply; healthcare pressure; and a flood of rumour competing with official instructions. Preparation targets the consequences of these, whatever the cause.

First 10 minutes

All-hazards default (scenario-specific official instructions always override): get out of immediate danger, read any Emergency Alert, and decide whether the situation needs escape, shelter, or Run–Hide–Tell. Call 999 only for an immediate emergency. Do not travel into an affected area to collect people.

First hour

Account for everyone with you. If sheltering, close doors, windows and ventilation. Bring pets inside if safe. Put phones on low power and switch to radio/official channels. Locate medicines, water and torches. Confirm whether power, water, mobile and heating are working.

First 24 hours

Move into a sustainable routine: ration stored water sensibly, use chilled food first, establish household roles, and check vulnerable neighbours only where safe. Follow school/care-provider instructions rather than self-deploying into cordoned areas. Use official support points if opened; keep roads and emergency lines free.

If it continues for several days

Over several days, adapt to official recovery arrangements — supply points, temporary accommodation, transport restrictions or work/school instructions. Replenish through normal or official channels; avoid hoarding. A resilience ladder helps: Level 1 = 24 hours; Level 2 = 72 hours (minimum practical target); Level 3 = 7 days (an editorial recommendation, more conservative than the UK's current 'few days' language, with German BBK's 10-day and France's 72-hour kits as comparators).

Children

Explain the plan to children in calm, age-appropriate language and give older children a paper contact card. Agree what happens if parents are at work and children are at school — do not tell children to leave a school independently in a major emergency unless the institution and authorities instruct it.

Older & vulnerable people

Keep a current paper medication list, an essential-medication buffer where prescribing allows, and register eligible people for utility Priority Services Registers. Nominate someone to physically check on anyone who cannot safely manage an outage alone.

Pets

Include pets: carrier/lead, food, water, medicine, identification and a temporary accommodation plan.

Communications

Build redundancy: FM radio, paper contacts, offline maps, an out-of-area contact, Wi-Fi calling where available, and at least one charged power bank. Emergency calls can automatically roam onto another available UK network if your own has no signal.

Official sources

This guidance is an editorial explanation of official UK advice. Always follow instructions from the authorities.

A quick note on your data

We only use your device's storage to remember your choices — no tracking cookies. Read our privacy notice.