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Guides/Power

Power cut:
the first hour

Most UK power cuts are over in under an hour. The first hour is also when people hurt themselves: candles, barbecues indoors, a dark staircase. Here is the order to do things in, with what to take from your bag at each step.

6 min readChecked against Energy Networks Association and gov.uk guidanceUpdated November 2026Print this guide
0–5minutes

Light, then find out if it's just you

  1. Get the head torch from the lid pocket of your bag before you move around. Put it on. Hands free, no candle.
  2. Look out of the window. If the street lights and neighbours are dark, it's the network. If it's only you, check your consumer unit for a tripped switch before calling anyone.
  3. Call 105. It's free from any phone and connects you to your local network operator, who will tell you what they know and when they expect power back. Their website has a live map if your phone has signal.
  4. Switch off anything that was on and could be dangerous when the power returns: the hob, an iron, a heater, the oven. Leave one light switched on so you know when it's back.
5–30minutes

Protect the food, the phone and the people

  1. Keep the fridge and freezer shut. A closed fridge holds a safe temperature for around four hours; a full, closed freezer for around 48 hours, a half-full one for 24. Every opening costs you time.
  2. Put your phone on low-power mode and plug it into the power bank from the lid pocket. Text, don't call; texts get through on a weak signal.
  3. Wind the radio for two minutes and find your local station. If the cut is wide, that's where the updates will be.
  4. Check on anyone nearby who is older, alone, or uses a medical device. If that's someone in your house, register with your network's Priority Services Register when this is over; it's free and they'll call you first next time.
  5. If it's cold, pick one room, shut the doors, and open the grey pouch: hand warmers and a foil blanket are worth more than a draughty whole house.

Never

Never run a generator, barbecue, camping stove or patio heater indoors or in a garage, even with the door open. Carbon monoxide has no smell and kills people in UK power cuts every winter. Never leave a candle burning in a room you've left. Your torch and glow sticks exist so you don't have to.

30–60minutes

Decide whether this is an evening or a night

  1. If you live in a flat, your water may be pumped. Fill the kettle, a couple of bottles and the bath while the pressure lasts. You have purification tablets in the olive pouch if you need to treat it later.
  2. Find the cash in your document pouch. Card machines and cash machines go down with the power; the shop that stays open is the one that takes notes.
  3. Medication: most insulin is fine out of the fridge for up to 28 days, but check your own leaflet. If someone depends on a powered device such as oxygen or a ventilator and you have no backup, that is a 999 call, not a wait.
  4. Agree the plan for the night: who sleeps where, who checks the hob is off, where the torch lives. If a vulnerable person in the house can't be kept warm, or the network says it's going to be a long one, this is when the Unit bag goes in the car and you go to family.
  5. Open the comfort pack. Glucose, a hot drink from the flask if you have one, and a game of cards do more for morale than another hour of staring at a phone.

When it comes back

Check the freezer: if food is still frozen hard, it's fine; if it has thawed, cook it or bin it. Recharge the power bank the same day and put it back in the lid; that's the thing people forget. Reset clocks, restart the boiler, and write down what you wished you'd had. Then tell us, and we'll put it in the next bag.

Sources, checked November 2026