A red warning on the radio, a flicker of the lights, and then nothing. Storm-related outages in the UK are usually measured in hours rather than weeks, but a day or two off the grid is common enough — and whether it feels like a minor inconvenience or three genuinely grim days comes down to what you sorted out beforehand.
Most of it is cheap, quick, and done from the kitchen table. Here is what to do in the calm hours before a storm lands, and in the first few minutes after the lights go out.
Before the storm: the two-hour prep list
If you do nothing else, do these.
- Charge everything. Phones, power banks, laptops, torches, hearing aid batteries and any medical equipment with a rechargeable battery. A charged laptop can top up a phone in an emergency.
- Find your torches now, not in the dark. Test them, then leave one by the bed, one by the front door and one in the kitchen. Head torches beat hand torches because they leave both hands free.
- Fill a flask and a couple of hot water bottles. Boiling a kettle before the power goes is free warmth later.
- Freeze a few bottles of water if you have the space. They act as ice blocks and give you cold water if supplies are affected.
- Draw some cash. Card readers and cash machines need power and a working connection.
- Collect prescriptions if you are close to running out, and check you have a few days of anything essential.
- Write key numbers on paper: your energy supplier, your water company, a neighbour, and 105 — the free national power cut number for Great Britain.
- Check on anyone who would struggle: an older neighbour, someone who relies on mains-powered medical equipment, anyone living alone. Ask whether they are on their supplier's Priority Services Register, which flags households needing extra support during an outage.
If you have a car, fill or charge it. Petrol stations lose power too, and a warm car is a useful backup for charging a phone.
Heating when the boiler is dead
Most UK homes stop heating the moment the power goes. A gas combi boiler needs electricity for its pump and controls, so it will not fire. Heat pumps and electric radiators are obviously out. Plan on heating one room and the people in it, rather than the whole house.
Keep the warmth you already have
Shut the doors of rooms you are not using, close the curtains before the temperature drops, and roll a towel along the bottom of the front door. Layers beat one thick jumper: thermal base layer, fleece, then a coat, plus a hat and warm socks. Sleeping bags and blankets in the living room are not overkill. If you have a gas hob you can often light it with a match, which gives you hot drinks and simple food — but never use a gas oven, grill or hob as a heater.
Carbon monoxide is the real danger
The biggest risk in a winter outage is not the cold. It is people bringing outdoor heat sources inside.
Barbecues, camping stoves, patio heaters and petrol generators all produce carbon monoxide. It is invisible, odourless and can kill.
Never use them indoors, in a garage, a conservatory, a tent or a campervan. A wood burner or open fire in good order is a different matter — use it with ventilation and a working carbon monoxide alarm, ideally one with a battery backup rather than a mains-only model.
Lighting and keeping devices alive
Candles are atmospheric until someone knocks one over. LED lanterns, camping lights and head torches are safer and last far longer. If you do use candles, stand them on something stable, away from curtains and anything that could fall, and never leave a room with one burning or carry a lit candle around.
To stretch a phone battery, switch to flight mode, turn the brightness right down and use it in short bursts rather than checking it constantly. Text messages get through when calls do not. A car will charge a phone if you need it to — just do not run the engine in a garage or with the exhaust buried in snow.
Food, fridges and freezers
Keep the fridge and freezer doors shut. Resist the urge to look inside; every open door lets cold air out. A fridge will hold a safe temperature for a few hours, and a full freezer keeps its own far longer than a half-empty one — another reason those frozen water bottles earn their keep.
Eat in this order: fresh food from the fridge first, then the freezer, then the cupboard. If food has warmed up noticeably, smells odd or has been sitting out for hours, bin it. Food that has spent a long spell above fridge temperature is not worth the risk, and food poisoning is a miserable way to end a storm week. Re-freezing is only safe if the food still contains ice crystals or has stayed properly cold. When in doubt, throw it out — that is the whole rule.
Keep a no-cook box in the cupboard: bread or crackers, peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, tinned fish, cereal bars, long-life milk and a manual tin opener. If you use a camping stove, use it outdoors or in a well-ventilated doorway, never in a sealed room.
Medication and health needs
Gather medicines in one place you can find by touch, along with a written
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