Three days: sorted
Tell us who's at home. We'll list what to have ready in case the power, water or phones go off for 3 days.
Your household · 3 days
- Water
- 18 litres
- Food shop
- about £35 at a supermarket
- Cash
- £40 in coins and notes
The kit, if you're starting from nothing: £95 to £185, plus the food and water. You'll already have most of this. Our suggestion
Free, do today
Free extra help from your energy and water companies, if you qualify.
Priority Services Register · Northern Ireland: Customer Care Registers
Include 105 for a power cut (03457 643643 in Northern Ireland).
Passport, insurance details and instructions for any medical equipment.
England · Wales · Scotland · Northern Ireland
Find the stopcock, the fuse box and the gas meter before you need them.
Especially one who lives alone.
Water
That's 4 × 5-litre bottles, or 1 × 25-litre container.
3 litres per person per day, from Be Ready.
What to get: of drinking water
The kit
Be Ready says torches are safer than candles.
What to get: A torchFor news when the mobile network and internet are down.
What to get: A battery or wind-up FM radioFor the torch and the radio. Check the sizes.
What to get: Spare batteriesTo keep a phone going.
What to get: A charged power bankCheck it has a thermometer and eyewash. Most kits don't.
What to get: A first aid kitOrder repeat prescriptions 5 working days before you need them.
What to get: of everyone's regular medicines, plus a few spareFor staying warm if the heating is off.
What to get: Blankets or sleeping bagsLayers, hats and thick socks.
What to get: Warm clothes for everyoneHand sanitiser, wet wipes and bathroom products, like toilet roll.
- Our suggestion
£20 a person. Be Ready says the amount depends on your household.
What to get: in coins and small notes - Our suggestion
Somewhere you can find in the dark. Under the stairs is fine.
What to get: A box to keep it all in
Food
Our suggestionFood that doesn't need cooking or a fridge, as Be Ready asks. Buy what you already eat. Eat it and replace it every six months.
What to get: foodProtein, and oily fish gives omega-3. In olive oil or water, with ring-pull lids. Swap: extra beans or chickpeas.
Protein and fibre, fine cold. No added salt where you can.
Vitamins and fibre straight from the tin.
In juice, not syrup.
Lasts months longer than bread.
Swap: seed butter for nut allergies.
Swap: seeds, or more oatcakes, for nut allergies.
Swap: long-life plant milk.
Morale counts. Sweden's list has it too.
For any tins that don't have ring-pull lids.
What to get: A tin opener
Most of this is already in your cupboards. The rest is a trip to the shops.
Everything we recommend is on one page: the kit.
Start here
- Be Ready, explained in 5 minutes
What launched, what's on the list, what it costs and what it doesn't ask of you.
- How much water you need for 3 days
The official figure, worked out for a family, and where to keep it.
- Getting ready on a small budget
Free things first, then the cupboard, then the cheapest picks.
- Official guidance, here and abroad
What Be Ready asks, and how other countries compare.