The UK emergency kit list and checklist, explained

The government's Be Ready campaign (22 October 2026) asks households to be ready for three days, which it says matches the advice in France, Ireland and the Netherlands; the British Red Cross and Ready Scotland also suggest 3 days, and the EU's separate household advice settles on 72 hours. Before that, GOV.UK Prepare gave no fixed number. Three days is our default too — it covers the overwhelming majority of UK incidents, from a winter storm to a local power cut, without turning your hallway into a warehouse.

If you live somewhere more exposed — a rural area at the end of a long power line, or a known flood zone — planning for a little longer is reasonable. The simplest way to get your numbers is our two-minute tool.

Build my kit — sized to my household →

Two of the nine — water and food — depend on how many people (and pets) are at home. For water, the Be Ready checklist says 3 litres per person per day for drinking, with more needed for cooking and washing; the old GOV.UK Prepare advice put a more comfortable amount, covering basic cooking and hygiene too, at 10 litres a day. For food, plan three no-cook meals per person per day.

That adds up quickly: a family of four planning three days needs 36 litres of drinking water as a minimum, or around 120 litres to be comfortable, plus 36 meals. Rather than do the sums yourself, our kit builder sizes water, food and the rest to your exact household and emails you a printable checklist.

Preparedness matters most for the people who'd struggle most in an outage — older people, young children, and anyone who relies on electricity for medical equipment such as a stairlift, oxygen concentrator or dialysis.

The single most useful step is the free Priority Services Register. Registering at thepsr.co.uk tells your energy supplier and local network operator that your household needs extra support during an interruption — priority updates, and in some cases practical help. It takes a few minutes and costs nothing.

It's also worth knowing which neighbours might need a hand, and agreeing to check on each other. In a power cut, dial 105 free to reach your electricity network operator — see our power cut guide.

It helps to think of two separate things. The home store is the bulk of your supplies — the water, food, torch, radio and first aid kit you'll use while sheltering at home, which is what most emergencies call for.

The grab bag is a smaller, portable subset for the rare case where you have to leave quickly — a flood, a gas leak or an evacuation. It lives by the door with document copies, medicines, cash, a charger and a change of clothes, so you can pick it up and go.

Looking for a survival kit? Our UK survival kit guide maps it onto these two kits, plus a walker's rucksack and a winter car kit.

See our grab bags & kits reviews →

Keep the home store somewhere cool, dark and easy to reach — a cupboard under the stairs or in a utility room — and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is. Keep the grab bag by the front door.

A kit only works if it's current. Once a year, spend ten minutes to: check food and water are in date, replace flat or leaking batteries, test the torch and radio, refresh any medicines, and top up anything you've borrowed from it. Tie it to a date you'll remember — the clocks going back is a good one.