Be Ready: the government's new emergency checklist asks for three days of supplies. What's new

Update, 5 November 2026: the ‘14 items’ headline

On 4 November the Daily Express ran “Households urged to stockpile on 14 items as Brits told ‘be ready’”. We read the version syndicated on AOL. The list is not a new one: the article credits the government’s Be Ready Checklist, the same list set out item by item below.

The 14 it gives are “water, food, hygiene products, blankets, batteries, torches, FM radio, power bank, cash, ID/documents, first aid kit, medication, baby products, and pet products.” The Be Ready checklist, which we re-read on 5 November, has 15 lines to tick. The Express counts batteries and torches separately, where Be Ready has one line, “Torch (and spare batteries)”, and it folds baby formula and nappies into one.

One line on the checklist is missing from the 14: “Important phone numbers and information”, a written list of emergency contacts “and a list of any regular medication and doses.” It costs nothing, and it still works when a phone battery is flat.

The word stockpile is in the headline, not in the advice. The article’s own text says households have been urged to “stock up”, and the Be Ready page does not use either word. It asks for supplies “for 3 days”, says “You don’t need to do it all at once”, and suggests “picking up an extra item or two when you can.” We found no new household advice from the Cabinet Office on GOV.UK when we checked on 5 November.

Update, 3 November 2026: the ‘record cash withdrawals’ headlines

Since late October, headlines have reported record cash withdrawals after the Be Ready advice. The reports credit the figures to LINK, the UK’s cash machine network, but we could not find them on LINK’s own website, so we don’t repeat them here.

What LINK itself published, on 23 October, is a note on keeping cash at home as part of the checklist. It says around £1.5bn is withdrawn from the LINK network every week, that there are over 33,000 free-to-use cash machines, and that they “are well stocked to ensure demand can be met”. Its chief executive, John Howells, suggests “around £50 per adult and £25 per child”, based on other European checklists. That figure is LINK’s suggestion, not the government’s.

The Be Ready checklist, re-read on 3 November, still lists “Cash (mix of coins and notes) and cards”, “In case electronic payments or ATMs are disrupted.” It sets no amount and no deadline: “The amount of cash you should keep depends on your family’s specific needs for essentials.” It also says “You don’t need to do it all at once”, and suggests picking up missing items during regular shopping trips.

What launched today

The Cabinet Office published the Be Ready advice on Thursday 22 October 2026, calling it the first stage of a three-year campaign to help households feel better prepared for events such as severe weather, which can occasionally affect power, water, phones and the internet.

The advice at its heart is to be prepared for three days of disruption, which the government says is also the advice in France, Ireland and the Netherlands. It also asks people to sign up to the Priority Services Register if they are eligible, and to keep a small supply of non-perishable food and bottled water at home.

More than five hundred organisations, from charities to businesses, have signed up to share the campaign, and the government says social media and radio advertising will follow over the coming weeks and months, aimed at families with young children and older people. No leaflet to every household has been announced.

The old GOV.UK Prepare website now redirects to the new Be Ready site. The Cabinet Office says it has published resilience advice for households since May 2024 and that much of the advice has not changed.

What the minister and the Red Cross said

Dan Jarvis, the Security Minister, said: "Those who can follow this advice should follow this advice. By taking simple steps to be ready for everyday emergencies like severe storms, people can reduce pressure on emergency services, helping them prioritise people who need more support in an emergency."

Laura Scott, the British Red Cross Director for UK Resilience, said: "We can't control when emergencies happen, but we can all take some simple steps to be prepared, so that when they do, we are ready to help our friends, families and neighbours."

The Be Ready checklist, item by item

Water: bottled water for three days, at 3 litres per person per day for drinking, with more needed for cooking and washing. Food: non-perishable food for three days that doesn't need a fridge or cooking, such as tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts; it says to buy food you would usually eat. Hygiene: hand sanitiser, wet wipes and bathroom products.

Light and warmth: a torch and spare batteries (torches, it says, are safer than candles), and blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothing, because homes can become cold very quickly when the heating goes off. Communication: a battery or wind-up FM radio, with the frequencies of your news stations written down, and a charged power bank for phones or compatible medical devices.

Money and documents: cash in a mix of coins and notes, and cards, in case electronic payments or cash machines are disrupted; printed copies of important documents such as passports, birth certificates, insurance details and instructions for any medical equipment; and a written list of emergency contacts and of any regular medication and doses.

Medical: a first aid kit, and essential medication, with repeat prescriptions requested up to 5 working days before you need them. Babies: ready-to-feed formula, because you may not be able to boil water safely, plus nappies and wipes. Pets: food and bottled water.

Its advice on getting started: see what you already have, note what your household still needs, pick up missing items during normal shopping, check expiry dates every six months, and swap contact details with your neighbours.

What is new compared with the old Prepare advice

Most of the list is the same as the kit on the old GOV.UK Prepare site: water, food that needs no cooking, a torch, a radio, a power bank, a first aid kit, hygiene items and supplies for babies and pets.

The additions to the kit list are cash and cards, blankets and warm clothing, printed copies of documents, and a written list of contacts, medicines and doses. The old site's plan section did already ask you to write down numbers and regular medication, and it mentioned warm clothes and blankets only for the car. Cash was not on the old kit list, which is why our earlier check of the 'stockpile' headlines said so.

The water advice now has a number. The old Prepare page said there was no standard figure and quoted the World Health Organisation's 2.5 to 3 litres a day; Be Ready says 3 litres per person per day for drinking, for three days. For a household of four that is 36 litres. The three-day period itself is new on the website, though a briefing for partner organisations had said on 1 October that the campaign would ask for it.

How far most homes are from it

The government's own 2026 preparedness survey suggests most homes are a long way short on water. When 10,791 adults were asked to count the bottled drinking water at home, 4% had three days' worth or more for their household at 3 litres a person a day, and 82% had less than a day. 60% said they had three days of food that needs no cooking. Our story on the survey has the detail.

The barriers people gave were money (29%), not wanting things to go out of date (25%) and not knowing what to do (23%). Be Ready's own answer is to build up slowly: a couple of extra items on normal shopping trips, food you already eat, and a check every six months.

Doing it without spending much

Start with what costs nothing: check whether you can join the Priority Services Register, write down your numbers and medicines, and print your documents. Our household emergency plan guide covers the written part.

For water, how to store emergency water explains bottles and safe storage, and how much food to store sets out sensible amounts. If you would rather buy food ready-packed, we compare emergency food kits on calories, shelf life and cost per day. Our emergency kit list follows the official list item by item, and the kit builder sizes water and food for your household.