During the autumn and winter months, weather-related power-system failures are about 55% more common in the UK than during the spring and summer months.
If you remember power cuts from a few decades ago, you may remember them lasting rather longer than many of the outages we experience today, while your Mum and Dad rummaged under the sink in the dark for the ancient pack of Price's candles that everyone seemed to have, followed by more rummaging for the matches. Most power cuts in the UK are fairly short these days, but even an outage lasting an hour or two can leave you hunting for a torch, wondering whether the freezer is going to defrost and discovering that the one power bank in the house has 3% charge left. An outage can affect heating, lighting, cooking, internet access and entertainment; our day-to-day lives rely heavily on electricity being available.
The good news is that preparing for one is neither difficult nor particularly expensive. You don't need a generator, a pallet of AA batteries, or enough tinned Spaghetti Hoops to survive the collapse of civilisation. A few sensible preparations will make an ordinary power cut - even one that lasts several hours - considerably less inconvenient.
After all, no-one likes eating cold baked beans in the dark, do they?
Get some torches and/or camping lanterns
The first thing you are likely to notice in a power cut is, unsurprisingly, that it has gone dark - especially during the winter months, when power cuts due to extreme weather are more likely.
You should therefore keep at least one proper torch somewhere where you can find it quickly and easily, preferably without having to negotiate stairs or rummage through a cupboard in total darkness. If other people live with you, make sure they know where it is too. A couple of inexpensive LED torches around the house are better than one magnificent torch that happens to be in the wrong room.
Keep spare batteries with them, and check occasionally that the batteries have not leaked or gone flat. Rechargeable torches are great, provided you remember to charge them regularly.
Torches are also safer than candles, which introduce a fire risk at exactly the point when your home is darker and less convenient to move around in.
Your phone has a torch, of course, but during a power cut your phone is also your means of communication and your source of information (if the internet is still up). Using it as the household lamp is a good way to run the battery down fast. If you have to, use it quickly to find your other sources of light, eg torches or camping lanterns, but stop using your phone torch after that unless you really have to.
Get at least one power bank, and keep it charged
A charged power bank is one of the most useful things you can have during an outage.
It does not need to be enormous - many of them are pocket sized. The important thing is that it works, has the correct cable for your phone and is actually charged when you need it. A decent power bank will cost you about £20 - £30. Some have small solar panels, but these are better treated as an emergency top-up than something you can rely on to recharge the bank. Some wind-up radios will also charge your phone, or at least power it.
If you own several power banks, rotate and fully charge them regularly rather than leaving them forgotten in a drawer for three years. It's a good habit to get into charging your rechargeable torches and power banks at least once a month.
Think about other small devices you might depend on too. That could include rechargeable lamps, torches, hearing devices, tablets used for communication, personal alarms, or other equipment.
If somebody in your household relies on electrically powered medical or care equipment, preparation becomes rather more important. Speak to the equipment provider about what happens during an outage and what backup arrangements are appropriate. Official UK preparedness guidance specifically recommends doing this for telecare and health-monitoring equipment.
Assume the internet will disappear
Your broadband router needs electricity, so home internet will go out as soon as the power does.
Mobile networks may continue working using backup power, but they are not guaranteed to do so indefinitely and local mobile masts may themselves be affected. That means it is worth having another way to receive information.
A small battery-powered or wind-up radio is inexpensive and takes up very little space. GOV.UK recommends having one available because radio may remain an important source of information during a significant outage.
It is also worth writing a few important numbers down on paper. Yes, actual paper.
In Great Britain, 105 is the number for reporting or checking a power cut. In Northern Ireland, NIE Networks uses 03457 643 643. Keeping those numbers somewhere obvious means you are not entirely dependent on an internet search when the internet is the thing that has just stopped working. If your own mobile phone dies then you may not have ready access to your contact numbers on someone else's phone.
Other useful numbers are those of your nearest and dearest, your local doctor, etc.
If you rely on a digital landline, check with your telephone provider whether it will continue to work during a power cut. Modern landlines often depend on mains-powered broadband equipment in the home. Providers may be able to offer additional support or battery backup for people who need reliable access to emergency calls.
Have something you can eat without cooking
You do not need a special cupboard labelled EMERGENCY RATIONS in threatening red letters. Nor do you need a box of Army ration packs, or expensive self-heating meals that prepping sites will try to sell you.
You do, however, want some food in the house that you can eat without relying on an electric oven, microwave or kettle.
Tinned food, crackers, cereal, long-life milk, spreads, tinned fruit and other ordinary shelf-stable foods are perfectly adequate. Choose things you actually eat, and rotate your supply so that the oldest things get eaten first. It's pointless and expensive to buy a dozen tins of sardines if you never eat sardines.
Remember a manual tin opener if your food requires one - not all tins have ring-pull tops; no-one wants to be trying to open a tin of rice pudding with a hammer and chisel in the dark.
Government preparedness guidance recommends keeping some non-perishable food that does not need cooking, along with drinking water. It also suggests considering the needs of babies and pets where relevant.
Your fridge and freezer are much less urgent than they might initially appear. Keeping the doors shut preserves the cold for surprisingly long periods. The Food Standards Agency says a fridge should remain cold for up to around four hours during a power cut, while food in a full freezer may remain frozen for up to around 48 hours.
Think about warmth before you need it
Many modern heating systems depend on electricity even when the actual heat comes from gas or oil. Boilers have pumps and electronic controls; heat pumps obviously require electricity; fans and thermostats may need power too. So a winter power cut can mean losing the heating as well as the lights. GOV.UK specifically warns that boilers and heat pumps may stop working during an outage.
You do not need specialist equipment to prepare for that. Know where your spare blankets, extra duvets and warm clothing are. Layers work. Closing curtains and unused rooms can help retain heat.
What you should not do is improvise indoor heating or cooking using outdoor equipment.
Never bring a barbecue, camping stove or portable generator indoors, or use one in an enclosed space. They can produce carbon monoxide, an invisible and odourless gas that can kill. NHS guidance explicitly warns against using barbecues or camping stoves indoors, and identifies portable generators as another possible source of carbon monoxide.
Know what depends on electricity
Spend five minutes thinking about what in your home would stop working if the electricity disappeared now.
The obvious answers are lights and sockets. The less obvious ones might include your boiler, broadband, electric garage door, entry system, stairlift, security equipment (such as cameras and Ring doorbells), powered medical equipment, electric cooking appliances or water pumps.
You do not necessarily need backup power for all of them. You simply need to know about them beforehand.
Also find your fuse box — or consumer unit — and make sure you can reach it easily. If the lights go out only in your home, a tripped breaker may be the cause rather than a wider power cut.
You do not need to become an electrician. Knowing where the consumer unit is and recognising what a tripped breaker looks like is usually enough.
Consider the Priority Services Register
If you are older, disabled, have a long-term health condition, rely on powered medical equipment, are pregnant, have young children or are temporarily in a vulnerable situation, you may qualify for additional support through the Priority Services Register - it is free to register. If you think you or somebody you care for may qualify, it is much better to register before there is a problem than to discover the scheme while sitting in the dark.
Support varies depending on your circumstances and network operator, but can include priority assistance during emergencies and advance notice of planned interruptions where possible. Registration does not guarantee that your electricity will never go off or that your home will always be reconnected first.
Northern Ireland operates separate arrangements through NIE Networks.
Use the Power Cut Preparation checklist
If you want the practical version of this guide, use our checklist to work through the main preparations and save your progress as you go.
Open the Power Cut Preparation checklist
If the electricity actually does go off, use our Power Cut Help page.
It will take you through checking the outage, finding your network operator, what to do while the power is off and what to check when it comes back.
Preparedness is not about expecting disaster. It is mostly about avoiding the moment when the lights go out and somebody says: “Has anyone got any idea where the torch is?”
Sources and further reading
- GOV.UK Prepare: Power cuts
- Food Standards Agency: Food safety in a power cut
- NHS: Carbon monoxide poisoning