A disaster kit list for UK homes

Published 25 October 2026

In the UK, a disaster kit is 3 days of the basics, kept at home: water, food that doesn’t need cooking, a torch, an FM radio, first aid, something warm, cash and copies of your documents. It’s what the government’s Be Ready campaign asks for, and you’ll already have most of it.

Be Ready’s advice is for the everyday kind of emergency: storms, floods, power cuts and the water going off. Here’s what to do when one happens.

Free things first

• Check if you can join the Priority Services Register
• Write down important numbers on paper
• Write down everyone's regular medicines and doses
• Add emergency contacts or Medical ID to your phone
• Print copies of key documents
• Check your flood risk
• Know how to turn off your gas, electricity and water
• Agree a meeting point with your household
• Swap numbers with a neighbour
• Write down the FM frequency of your local BBC radio station
• Test your smoke alarm

Water

• Drinking water: 3 litres per person per day: what to get for drinking water: 3 litres per person per day

How much that is for your home is on how much is 3 days of water.

Food

Food that doesn’t need cooking or a fridge, and that you’d eat anyway. Our no-cook food list has the amounts.

• A tin opener (our suggestion): what to get for a tin opener
• Tea, coffee or whatever you usually drink, for when there's hot water again (our suggestion)
• Babies, allergies, coeliac or other special diets: keep 3 days of what that person already eats (our suggestion)

The kit

• A torch: what to get for a torch
• A battery or wind-up FM radio: what to get for a battery or wind-up fm radio
• Spare batteries: what to get for spare batteries
• A charged power bank: what to get for a charged power bank
• A first aid kit: what to get for a first aid kit
• Everyone's regular medicines, plus a few spare: what to get for everyone's regular medicines, plus a few spare
• Blankets or sleeping bags: what to get for blankets or sleeping bags
• Warm clothes for everyone: what to get for warm clothes for everyone
• Hygiene items
• Cash in coins and small notes: what to get for cash in coins and small notes
• A water-resistant wallet (our suggestion): what to get for a water-resistant wallet
• A box to keep it all in (our suggestion): what to get for a box to keep it all in

Babies and pets

Ready-to-feed formula, nappies and wipes for a baby. Food, water and a bowl for a pet. More on the babies and pets kit page.

What you don’t need

Generators, freeze-dried “25-year” food and ready-made grab bags. You don’t need them for 3 days at home.

Print it

The checklist has all of this on one page, to print and tick off. The calculator works out the amounts for your household.

Everything we recommend is on one page: the kit.