Use a 72-hour household kit as the working minimum. The British Red Cross explicitly recommends three days of bottled water and ready-to-eat food; GOV.UK Prepare describes preparing for an emergency lasting several days and gives daily water quantities rather than a single universal stock figure.[1][2]
For a household of N people, the three-day water target is:
The lower figure is a survival drinking allowance, not a comfortable whole-household allowance. For rural homes that may be isolated by flooding, snow, blocked roads or prolonged utility disruption, storing toward the higher figure where practical provides more resilience; Met Office impact guidance recognises that rural communities can sometimes be cut off for several days.[3]
Keep the main kit together, accessible in darkness, and supplement it with a small grab bag for evacuation. If escaping an active house fire, leave immediately rather than delaying to collect the kit.[1]
| Category | Officially recommended contents |
|---|---|
| Water | Three days of bottled water, using 2.5–3 litres per person per day as the drinking-survival minimum or 10 litres per person per day for drinking, basic cooking and hygiene; add water for pets, formula and medical needs.[1][2] |
| Food | Three days of ready-to-eat, non-perishable food that needs no refrigeration or cooking: for example, tinned meat, fruit or vegetables, plus a manual tin opener.[1][2] |
| Light and information | Battery or wind-up torch, spare batteries, and battery or wind-up radio. Torches are safer than candles; record local and national radio frequencies on paper.[1][4] |
| Communications | Charged portable power bank, phone charging leads and a paper list of emergency contacts. Record 105 for power cuts in England, Scotland and Wales.[1][4] |
| Health | Essential medicines for several days, first-aid kit, spare glasses or contact lenses, and written instructions for medical devices. Keep medicines and documents in waterproof containers and charge backup medical-equipment batteries.[1][2][5] |
| Hygiene | Hand sanitiser, wet wipes, waterproof plasters, bandages, sterile dressings, gloves, antiseptic, eyewash, thermometer, tape and tweezers.[1] |
| Documents and access | Waterproof copies of insurance and identity documents, spare house and car keys, pencil and paper, whistle and appropriate cash/payment cards.[2] |
| Warmth and clothing | Warm waterproof clothing and blankets, particularly in the flood/grab bag and car kit.[6][2] |
| Babies and dependants | Nappies, care supplies and ready-to-feed infant formula where needed. Ready-to-feed formula is preferred if water cannot be boiled or bottles sterilised.[1][4] |
| Pets | Three days of food and water, bowls, medicines, lead or harness, carrier, identification details, waste/litter supplies, bedding and veterinary records.[1][7][5] |
| Car | Torch, in-car charger, warm clothes, blankets, high-visibility clothing, food, drink, first-aid kit, map, ice scraper/de-icer, jump leads and snow shovel.[1][2] |
Review the kit periodically: rotate food, water and medicines before expiry; recharge power banks; replace batteries; update contacts, prescriptions, insurance information and pet records.
Choose food that household members will actually eat and that can be opened and eaten without mains power, clean tap water or cooking. During a power cut, keep fridge and freezer doors shut: official Food Standards Agency guidance says a fridge may remain cold for up to four hours, a full freezer for up to 48 hours and a half-full freezer for up to 24 hours, although these are estimates.[8]
If the fridge reaches 8°C or more, food that normally requires refrigeration should be eaten within four hours or discarded. Prioritise refrigerated food, then safe defrosted food, before shelf-stable tins, bottles and dried food; never eat food touched by floodwater.[9][8]
Keep enough regular medication for several days, a written medication list, key clinical and pharmacy contacts, and paper instructions for essential equipment. Medicines should be accessible and, where possible, in a waterproof container; anyone dependent on powered equipment should agree a disruption plan with their clinician, care provider or equipment supplier and keep backup batteries charged.[5]
Include pets in the household evacuation plan rather than treating them as an afterthought. Arrange in advance who could accommodate them outside the immediate area, identify pet-friendly transport or boarding, and keep carriers, leads and the pet kit ready.[10][7]
During flooding, move pets to safety or higher ground and take them with you if evacuating so they are not trapped by rising water. Assistance-animal bags should include veterinary records, food, water, harness or lead, medicines, toys and blankets; animals should be identifiable by a tag or microchip where required.[11][9][5]
Beforehand, record 105, charge power banks, keep torches and a battery/wind-up radio ready, and check whether powered phones, telecare, alarms and medical devices will work without mains electricity. Eligible households should join their electricity, gas and water suppliers’ Priority Services Registers.[12][4]
During an outage:
Check the property’s long-term flood risk, sign up for Environment Agency flood warnings, and monitor Met Office forecasts and warnings. Emergency Alerts are location-based, work over compatible 4G and 5G networks without mobile data or Wi-Fi, and require no app or sign-up.[15][6][9]
Prepare a household flood plan and accessible grab bag containing medicines, first aid, waterproofed documents, torch, water, warm waterproof clothing and baby supplies. Know how to isolate gas, electricity and water; move vehicles, people, pets, medicines, valuables and important documents to higher ground or upstairs before routes become unsafe.[9]
When a flood warning or severe warning is issued, follow council and emergency-service instructions promptly. Turn utilities off only if safe, and never touch an electrical switch while standing in water.[9]
For a rural household, keep these numbers, radio frequencies, the postcode, What3words or grid-reference information, utility isolation instructions and at least one out-of-area contact on paper. Agree a meeting point and alternative routes before an incident, because electricity, internet access and local roads may fail together.[10][1]