The UK Cabinet Office has issued updated emergency planning advice encouraging households to stock up on bottled water and three days of food to prepare for national emergencies and crises.
The advice, released on Thursday, recommends that households take simple steps to stay prepared if everyday services are temporarily disrupted. It follows severe weather events, including last winter's storms and this summer's wildfires, which have affected services such as power, water, phones and the internet.
Government's Three-Year Preparedness Campaign
The guidance is the first stage of a three-year campaign to help households across the UK feel better prepared for events such as severe weather. The Cabinet Office said: "With storms last winter and the wildfires this summer showing how severe weather events can cause disruption to our everyday lives and impact the services we rely on, from phone signal to water and the internet, launching the campaign brings the UK into line with European peers who all run similar campaigns already."
This comes after the government announced in 2025 that the UK must actively prepare for a 'wartime scenario' on British soil 'for the first time in many years'.
Practical Steps for Households
The government's UK Be Ready website provides a list of advice for all households. The site states: "Being ready for 3 days helps you manage while support reaches those most in need." It adds: "Doing this is easier than you might think. You could have some of the items at home already. You don't need to do it all at once. Build up your readiness gradually over time by taking it step by step, and picking up an extra item or two when you can."
The website recommends 3 litres of bottled water per person per day for drinking, with more needed for cooking and washing. It also urges households to stock up on food with a long shelf life that doesn't need refrigeration or cooking, such as tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts, and advises buying food people would usually eat. For families with babies, it suggests ready-made or 'ready-to-feed' formula, as boiling water to make powdered formula may not be possible.
