UK Emergency Kit Checklist: What Should You Keep at Home?

What should you actually keep at home in case of an emergency?

A UK emergency kit doesn’t need to mean survival gear, huge stockpiles or preparing for an unlikely catastrophe. For most households, it means having enough basic supplies to cope comfortably with a temporary disruption such as a power cut, water outage, severe weather, flooding or another interruption to everyday services.

The UK Government’s Prepare guidance recommends considering what supplies your household might need during an emergency lasting a few days. The British Red Cross also recommends preparing an emergency kit and building it gradually rather than trying to buy everything at once.

So what should actually go in one?

Why Keep an Emergency Kit at Home?

The UK has generally reliable infrastructure, so serious disruption is unusual. But temporary interruptions happen.

Severe weather can cause power cuts. Water supplies can be interrupted. Flooding can make travel difficult. Mobile and internet services can fail. Shops can occasionally experience temporary supply problems.

The objective isn’t to predict which emergency will happen. The useful thing about a basic emergency kit is that many of the same supplies can help across numerous different situations.

Some of the things on this checklist are probably already in your home. The important part is knowing that you have them, keeping essential items accessible and replacing things as they are used or expire.

1. Drinking Water

Water is probably the most important basic supply to think about.

UK Government preparedness guidance says there is no single amount appropriate for every emergency or household. However, it cites a minimum of around 2.5 to 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, while around 10 litres per person per day provides considerably more capacity for basic cooking and hygiene as well.

Households with babies, pets or particular medical requirements may need additional water.

You don’t necessarily need huge specialist containers. A modest supply of bottled water that is rotated and used normally can provide a simple starting point.

If you store water for emergencies, check it periodically and follow the manufacturer’s storage and expiry guidance.

2. Food That Doesn’t Need Cooking

An emergency food supply doesn’t need to consist of specialist survival meals.

Government guidance suggests non-perishable food that doesn’t need cooking, such as ready-to-eat tinned meat, fruit or vegetables.

Other practical choices might simply be foods your household already eats that store well and can be consumed if electricity or gas isn’t available.

And don’t forget a manual tin opener if your emergency food includes tins.

One sensible approach is to maintain a slightly larger supply of normal long-life foods and rotate them through your everyday meals. That reduces waste and means your emergency food isn’t sitting untouched for years.

3. A Torch

A proper torch is one of the simplest additions to a UK emergency kit.

Government guidance recommends battery or wind-up torches and specifically points out that torches are safer than candles.

A separate torch also avoids using your mobile phone’s battery as your main source of light during a prolonged power cut.

Keep spare batteries with it if required, and put the torch somewhere you could actually find if the lights went out.

4. A Charged Power Bank

Our phones have become our maps, news sources, contact books and means of communicating with family.

That makes a portable power bank particularly useful during an electricity outage, and it is specifically included in Government emergency-kit guidance.

Simply owning one isn’t enough, of course. Check it occasionally and keep it charged.

5. A Battery or Wind-Up Radio

This one can initially sound rather old-fashioned.

But if electricity, home broadband and parts of the mobile network were disrupted simultaneously, radio could become an important way of receiving information.

Government guidance therefore recommends keeping a battery or wind-up radio, together with spare batteries where appropriate.

Your car radio may provide another option, although going outside during severe weather may not be advisable.

6. Essential Medication and Medical Requirements

Think about anything in your household that can’t simply wait until normal services return.

Government guidance recommends ensuring you have enough essential medication to keep you going for several days.

If somebody relies on medical equipment requiring electricity, batteries or water, consider in advance what would happen if that service were interrupted. Instructions for important medical equipment can also be kept on paper.

The objective is planning, rather than accumulating unnecessary quantities of medication.

7. A Basic First Aid Kit

A basic household first aid kit is useful regardless of whether a wider emergency occurs.

Government guidance suggests items including plasters, bandages, sterile dressings, antiseptic, gloves, medical tape, a thermometer, eyewash and tweezers.

Check the contents periodically and replace anything that has been used or expired.

8. Hygiene Supplies

A water outage can make ordinary hygiene surprisingly difficult.

Wet wipes and hand sanitiser are therefore included in official preparedness recommendations.

Normal household supplies such as toilet roll and personal hygiene products are also worth keeping at reasonable levels.

The key word is reasonable. Preparedness means buying things before you urgently need them, not clearing a supermarket shelf after everybody else has had the same idea.

9. Important Information on Paper

Most of us now keep almost everything on our phones.

That creates a vulnerability when batteries run flat or communications networks are unavailable.

Write down important telephone numbers, medication information and other essential details and keep them somewhere accessible.

For power cuts in England, Scotland and Wales, the number to report or obtain information about a power cut is 105.

Insurance information and other important documents may also be worth keeping together somewhere safe and easy to access.

For particularly important documents, you could also consider a fire-resistant and water-resistant document box or pouch. This might be useful for items such as passports, insurance documents, property information, certificates and other records that would be difficult or inconvenient to replace after a fire or flood.

Digital copies of important documents can provide an additional backup, but make sure they are stored securely and can still be accessed if your usual device is unavailable.

10. Some Cash

The British Red Cross includes cash for essentials such as food or fuel in its suggested home emergency kit.

Card payments are normally extraordinarily convenient, but they depend on functioning communications and payment infrastructure.

This doesn’t mean keeping large quantities of money at home. A modest amount could simply provide another fallback if electronic payments were temporarily unavailable.

11. Don’t Forget Children and Pets

A generic emergency kit checklist won’t cover every household.

Parents may need nappies, baby food or ready-to-feed formula. Pet owners need to consider food, water and medication for their animals.

Glasses, contact lenses and other everyday necessities can also become rather important when normal access to shops or services is interrupted.

12. Have a Simple Household Emergency Plan

Preparedness isn’t only about buying things.

Some of the most useful steps cost nothing.

Know where important documents are. Agree how family members would contact each other. Know how to turn off utilities if necessary. Consider where you would go if you had to leave home.

The Government also recommends checking local risks such as flooding and considering whether anyone in your household qualifies for a utility company’s Priority Services Register.

13. Keep Your Vehicle Fuelled

If you rely on a car, another simple preparedness measure is not allowing the fuel tank or battery charge to become extremely low.

You don’t need to keep it permanently full, but maintaining a reasonable reserve gives you more options if severe weather, a power cut, transport disruption or another emergency makes refuelling or recharging difficult.

A vehicle can also be useful for essential journeys and, in some circumstances, provide access to a radio or a way to charge a phone.

This is about keeping the vehicle reasonably ready to use, rather than storing additional fuel at home.

Do You Need a Grab Bag?

You may sometimes hear people talk about a grab bag or emergency bag.

There’s nothing particularly dramatic about the idea. It simply means keeping essential items together so they can be found quickly if you need to leave home.

That might include medication, important information, a phone charger or power bank, water and a few other essentials.

Obviously, circumstances matter. If there is an immediate fire or another situation where emergency services tell you to leave immediately, getting yourself and others to safety takes priority over collecting belongings.

How Much Should You Actually Store?

There is no need to turn your home into a warehouse.

A useful starting question is:

Could our household manage reasonably comfortably for a few days if the electricity, water or normal access to shops were disrupted?

If the answer is yes, you’re probably already reasonably well prepared.

If the answer is no, you don’t have to solve everything this afternoon.

Add a few useful items to normal shopping, keep things you genuinely use anyway, and gradually build a modest buffer.

The ‘Bog Roll King’ Approach

I’ve tended to think this way for years.

Before the shortages of 2020, I already kept more toilet rolls and basic household essentials than we immediately needed. When supplies suddenly became difficult to find, I was able to help family and friends rather than join the scramble for stock.

It earned me the nickname the Bog Roll King, but the underlying principle was pretty mundane: buy ordinary things you will eventually use while they are readily available, rather than waiting until everybody wants them simultaneously.

The same idea applies to Christmas food. I tend to buy frozen alternatives well ahead of Christmas so there is a fallback if fresh products become difficult to obtain nearer the time.

That doesn’t require predicting a shortage. If nothing goes wrong, the products simply get used normally.

Preparedness Is Not Panic Buying

This distinction matters.

If large numbers of people respond to a warning by suddenly buying unusual quantities of the same product, their behaviour can itself contribute to temporary shortages.

Sensible preparedness works in almost the opposite way.

You build a modest reserve gradually while supply is normal. You buy things you are likely to use anyway. You rotate food, water and other consumables rather than wasting them.

And if disruption occurs, you may actually need to buy less at precisely the point when supply chains are under the greatest pressure.

Why Demand Hunt Is Watching Emergency Preparedness

Demand Hunt Live is currently tracking household emergency preparedness supplies as a potential demand signal.

That doesn’t mean we’re predicting a national emergency or widespread shortages.

The signal is interesting because Government and resilience organisations are actively encouraging households to become better prepared, while products such as water storage, torches, power banks, radios and other practical supplies have applications across many different types of disruption.

For retailers, that could create opportunities around sensible preparedness products and bundles. Our Sell Products guide looks at ways to investigate product opportunities before committing significant money.

For consumers trying to locate products that have become difficult to obtain, see our Buy Products guide.

Build Your Emergency Kit Before You Need It

The most useful time to think about an emergency kit is when there isn’t an emergency.

You don’t have to buy everything immediately. Start with what matters most, add useful items gradually and periodically check that things such as batteries, power banks, food, water and medication are still suitable.

That approach is cheaper, less wasteful and less likely to contribute to shortages than reacting after demand has already surged.

It’s also very much the principle behind Demand Hunt: spot changing conditions early rather than waiting until everybody else has noticed them.

See the latest UK demand and shortage signals on Demand Hunt Live →

This article is for general information only. In an emergency, follow instructions from the emergency services and relevant authorities. Household requirements vary, particularly where medication, medical equipment, disability, babies or other additional needs are involved.