What to do in a power cut in the UK

In a power cut the company to contact is the one that runs the local wires, your network operator, which is not necessarily the one that sends your bill. The government's Prepare advice is to report the cut and follow updates on the operator's website, and if you can't get online, to call 105 for free in England, Wales and Scotland, or 03457 643643 in Northern Ireland.

Write 105 on paper now, with the numbers of anyone you'd need to call and the frequencies of your local radio stations, and keep it with your torch. Prepare suggests the same, and it has a printable household emergency plan to record it in.

The Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free service in England, Scotland and Wales that gives extra support to customers who may need it, including when the electricity, gas or water supply is interrupted. You register once through your local electricity network operator, and your details can be shared with other participating utilities.

Reasons for joining listed on thepsr.co.uk include:

• being of pensionable age;
• having children aged five or under at home;
• having a health condition or reduced mobility;
• being medically dependent on electricity, gas or water;
• needing extra communication support (hearing or sight, or English not being your first language);
• a mental health or cognitive condition, or needing support for a while after hospital or a bereavement.

The Food Standards Agency's advice for a power cut, in short: under 4 hours, chilled and frozen food is unlikely to be affected. Keep the doors shut. A closed fridge should stay cold for up to 4 hours; a freezer keeps food frozen for up to 48 hours if it's full, or 24 hours if half full. These are estimates and vary by model.

• Use a fridge thermometer. In a power cut the FSA allows food to stay in the fridge below 8 °C. If it rises to 8 °C or above, eat the food that needs refrigeration within 4 hours, first.
• Cold outside? Below 8 °C you can store food outside, in a clean sealed box, out of the sun and away from animals.
• Eat the cupboard last. Tins and other food stored at room temperature stay safe; eat the perishables first.

For a cut that runs past those 4 hours, a portable power station can run a fridge-freezer: about 34 W averaged over a day for a typical freestanding model. See will a power station run a fridge-freezer.

Prepare is blunt: gas ovens, boilers and heat pumps won't work without power. Gas boilers need electricity for their fan, ignition and pump. The FSA notes that electric and induction cookers won't work, while gas cookers may.

• Keep warm with blankets and layered clothing, keep doors to unused rooms closed and draw the curtains, as Prepare advises. Older adults, babies and young children, and people with long-term health problems are the most likely to become ill if they get too cold.
• Cook safely. The FSA says a camping stove, barbecue or bottled gas stove can heat food and water, but most are for outdoor use only: follow the maker's instructions. The NHS warns that using barbecues or camping stoves indoors can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Battery heat is limited. A power station can run an electric blanket for hours, but not an electric heater for long. The boiler's electrics are modest, but most boilers are wired in, not plugged in.

Expect to lose your home internet, and possibly mobile signal if your local mast is in the cut. Prepare's advice:

• keep a power bank charged for your phone, and a battery or wind-up radio with spare batteries;
• try FM and digital stations for updates; a car radio works, but in severe weather it may be safer indoors;
• a corded landline phone might still work in a power cut;
• if your landline is your only way to call for help, or you have a telecare alarm, ask your provider how it behaves in a power cut: they may offer a free backup solution covering at least an hour;
• in a life-threatening emergency with no landline, try 999 or 112 on a mobile: emergency calls roam onto any available network.

A small power station keeps a broadband router going for many hours, though the internet still depends on the network outside.

Storm Éowyn on 24 January 2025 was, according to the Met Office, the UK's most powerful wind storm for over a decade. It brought a red warning for wind across Northern Ireland and Scotland's Central Belt, a 100 mph gust at Drumalbin in Lanarkshire, and around a million homes reported without power at its peak.

When a storm is named and heading your way, Prepare's checklist includes:

• charge phones, power banks and any backup batteries for medical equipment;
• know who your power provider is and how to contact them;
• secure loose objects (ladders, trampolines, garden furniture) and close and fasten doors and windows;
• check on neighbours who might need extra help;
• during the storm, stay inside if you can and keep well away from fallen power lines.

Follow Met Office warnings for your area: named storms are the ones most likely to bring the biggest impacts.

Prepare asks anyone who uses medical equipment that needs power to make a plan now with their care provider or clinical team: what to do and who to contact in a power cut. Keep backup batteries charged and a paper copy of the instructions. Join the Priority Services Register. A power station can be part of the plan; for a CPAP, see how long a power station runs a CPAP. This is not medical advice.

• Write 105 and your key numbers on paper and keep them with a torch.
• Check whether anyone at home is eligible for the Priority Services Register, and sign up.
• Put a fridge thermometer in the fridge.
• Build a small kit: torch, power bank, radio, water, food that needs no cooking. Our 72-hour emergency kit follows the government's list item by item.
• If you want the fridge-freezer and router to keep going, size a power station for a power cut.