Know the moment something affects your home
Your home's own live control panel. Power cuts, weather and flood warnings for your postcode on one calm screen, with your kits saved as you go and the help you may be due. Free for your own home.
- Power cut alerts from UK Power Networks, National Grid, SSEN and Northern Powergrid
- Met Office and flood warnings that cover your address, usually within 15 minutes of the official source
- Tells you the help you're due when something happens: power-cut compensation, the Priority Services Register, broadband and flood help
- Kit sized to your household, and what's missing
Free for your own home. Sign up in a minute.
Already a member? Sign in to My home.
My home's Today, Kit and Briefing tabs, shown with example data.
The answer is in five places
- Met Office warnings
- Environment Agency floods
- Your power network
- UKHSA flu and COVID levels (on your page)
- Hosepipe bans from your water company (on your page)
One screen, one alert
We check them all for your postcode, and tell you only when something changes at your address.
A stormy week, with Home Alerts
What a weekend like Storm Boelo's looks like when Home Alerts is watching your postcode. The times are made up.
- Saturday10:05Email
An amber wind warning covers your home
Usually within 15 minutes of the Met Office: when it starts and ends, the area it covers, and what to do before the wind arrives.
- Saturday22:40Email
Your network lists a power cut at your postcode
When it expects the power back, and the short list: call 105, keep the fridge and freezer shut, and use a torch rather than candles.
- Sunday11:20Claims tab
The power's back on
A cut that ran past 12 hours may qualify for a payment. Your Claims tab notes it, with the date to chase it by if the money doesn't arrive.
- Later that weekKit tab
Ready for next time
A reminder when something's due a check, like the torch batteries or the water you stored, and our pick for anything still missing.
How things are at home, right now
We check the official sources for your postcode every 10 minutes. Open it and you see straight away whether anything needs you.
- Power cuts your network lists at your postcode, and when it expects the power back
- Met Office and flood warnings that cover your address
- Fuel near home: the cheapest forecourts within 10 miles, with the time each price was reported
Example data
Your kits, saved as you go
Tell us who lives with you and we size your kits. Tick things off as you get them and My home keeps your list, so it's there next time on any phone or computer.
- The home kit and a grab bag, plus the car, pets, a baby or an older relative if you need them
- A reminder when batteries, stored water or food are due a check
- Our pick for each job your home needs kit for, a list you can print, and how long a power station would run your fridge
Example data
The help you're due, when it's due
Some help comes without asking and some you have to claim. When something happens at your home, the Claims tab tells you which, and by when.
- Power cuts at your postcode that may qualify for a payment, with the date to chase it by
- Help such as the free Priority Services Register
- A money check of grants and offers for homes like yours
Example data
If a fault leaves you without power for more than 12 hours, then £45 for every 12 hours after. The wait is 24 hours when 5,000 or more homes are off. In a storm it's £90 after 24 or 48 hours, then £45 every 6 hours. Your network normally pays this without you asking; if it doesn't arrive, claim within 3 months.
If your network gives you less than 2 days' notice of planned work. You have to claim this one, within a month.
Four or more cuts of 3 hours or longer between April and March. You have to claim this one too, by the end of June.
A Cold Weather Payment, November to March, if you get certain benefits. Scotland pays a Winter Heating Payment instead.
Most providers pay this under Ofcom's scheme if a fault isn't fixed within 2 full working days, including after a storm. The clock only starts once you report it.
Power cut payments are Ofgem's guaranteed standards for Great Britain from 1 April 2026; Northern Ireland's are different. Work yours out now with our power cut compensation calculator, check Cold Weather Payments for your postcode, or read what each power-cut payment needs from you.
What's happening round your postcode
A short written briefing for your area, and a live map, so you know what's near you before it reaches your street.
- Power cuts, warnings and floods nearby, on a live map
- What's changed since yesterday
- Water and hosepipe news, flu and COVID levels, and diesel prices near you
Example data
Home Alerts is the first step to the PreparedBritain app
We're building it one step at a time, starting with what matters most: knowing what's happening at your home. Join now and your account, your kits and your settings come with you at every step.
- Step 1 · NowIn your browser, by email
Your home's control panel on any phone or computer, and an email when something affects your postcode.
- Step 2 · NextOn your home screen
Add it to your phone's home screen like an app, with alerts as notifications on iPhone and Android.
- Step 3 · ThenThe PreparedBritain app
Your kit list to hand even when the power's out, and alerts on your lock screen.
What you'll see
My home fills in from your postcode and a two-minute set-up. It has seven tabs:
- Today. How things are at home right now: power cuts, Met Office and flood warnings, and fuel near home, with anything that needs your attention and any money you may be able to claim.
- Briefing. Today's written briefing for your postcode and what's changed since yesterday, then this month round your postcode: the power cuts on record, crime, water and hosepipe news, flu and COVID, and the weather outside.
- Live map. Power cuts, weather warnings, floods and wildfires on a map opened on your home, with how things are at your home beside it.
- Kit. What your household has, what's missing and the few things to do first, with a list you can print, and our best pick for each job your home needs kit for.
- Claims. Power cuts at your postcode that may qualify for a payment, with the date to chase it by if it doesn't arrive, help such as the Priority Services Register, and the money check.
- Alerts. What we watch at your address, the alerts we've sent you, and which ones we email you.
- Account. Your email, postcode and set-up answers. Sign out or delete your account here.
What it does
Alerts when it actually affects you
A power cut your network lists at your postcode, or an amber or red weather warning or a flood warning that covers your address. Usually within 15 minutes of the official source, and only when something changes.
A free account for every home
Mum, the student, the neighbour: each home can have its own free Home Alerts, with alerts for that address.
Kit sized to your home
Tell us what you have and we show what's missing. Own a power station? We'll tell you how long it would run your fridge in a cut.
Fuel near home
The cheapest forecourts within 10 miles of your postcode, with the time each price was reported, from the national Fuel Finder scheme.
Calm, and from the official sources
Met Office, Environment Agency and the power networks. Every figure shows where it came from and when we read it.
How it works
- 1Enter your email and postcode
We work out your council, power network, water company, flood risk and more from your postcode, and email you a link to start.
- 2Answer a few questions
Who lives with you, how you heat and cook, what kit you already have. Two minutes, all optional.
- 3Get your dashboard and alerts
Your home today at a glance, and an email when something changes.
What's new
A live map of your home, and a Briefing tab
Live map is a new tab: a full-screen map centred on your home, with power cuts, weather warnings and flood warnings near you. Your daily briefing has a tab of its own, and Today shows the map at the top.
Home Alerts opened to everyone
After our first members, sign-up opened to everyone.
Your household plan, and a way to tell us what you think
A one-page plan for the fridge with the numbers for your home already filled in, a check for the free Priority Services Register, and a feedback box on your Account page.
The first members, and a tidier Kit tab on phones
The first invitations went out. On a phone, the Kit tab now shows one kit at a time, with product photos and the basket pinned at the bottom.
Coming next
What we're working towards, in rough order. No dates: we'd rather tell you when something is ready than promise a day.
Building now
A summary after a power cut
One email once the power's back: how long it was off, and whether a payment may be due.
Next
Alerts for a second home
Add a parent's or relative's address and hear when their power goes off or a warning covers them.
Fuel price alerts
A heads-up when fuel near you moves sharply, from the government's Fuel Finder data.
Dark mode
An easier-on-the-eyes look for evenings and power cuts.
Thinking about
An iPhone app
Alerts as notifications on your phone, alongside the emails.
Questions
Is it free?+
Yes. Your own home's dashboard and email alerts are free, including a note when a long power cut may mean compensation. Each home can have its own free account.
Is there an app?+
Not yet. Home Alerts works in the browser on any phone or computer, with alerts by email. Adding it to your phone's home screen, with alerts as notifications, is the next step, then the PreparedBritain app. Your account and your kits come with you.
How is it different from the Met Office app?+
The Met Office app covers the weather. Home Alerts puts the weather together with power cuts from your network and flood warnings, for your address, and tells you only when something affects it.
Is it open?+
Yes. Sign up in a minute: it's free for your own home.
What do you keep about me?+
Your email, postcode and settings, to send your alerts. See the privacy notice.
Is it an official warning service?+
No. PreparedBritain is independent and not affiliated with HM Government. Official warnings always come first: call 105 for a power cut, Floodline on 0345 988 1188 for flooding, and 999 in an emergency.
Which areas does it cover?+
The whole UK for Met Office weather warnings. Power cut alerts cover every network in Great Britain: UK Power Networks, National Grid, SSEN, Northern Powergrid, Electricity North West and SP Energy Networks. NIE Networks in Northern Ireland isn't covered yet. Flood warnings start in England.
I run a housing association, council team or care group+
Home Alerts for organisations watches every site you look after. Tell us about it on our page for organisations. PreparedBritain for organisations.
PreparedBritain is independent and not affiliated with HM Government. Questions: hello@preparedbritain.co.uk.
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