72-Hour Household Readiness Checklist

Print this page or save it offline. Use it for your actual household rather than buying a generic emergency pack. This is a checklist of things to consider, not a guarantee that your family is ready for every event.

People and key information

• ☐ All household members know how to raise an alarm, get out safely and where to meet.
• ☐ Important contacts, local updates, medicine details and insurance contacts are written on paper.
• ☐ Adults know who will help children, neighbours and anyone needing extra assistance.
• ☐ Pets have appropriate food, water, transport or care arrangements.

Track what you have already completed: open My Readiness Plan to keep your household checklist updated and save a copy on your device. Your entries stay in your browser.

Food, water and hygiene

• ☐ Check complete breakfasts, lunches and dinners with the Food Reserve Planner.
• ☐ Check safe drinking water using the Water Guide.
• ☐ Include food suited to each person’s dietary requirements; note any meals needing cooking or refrigeration.
• ☐ Have basic hand hygiene and sanitation supplies and a plan if taps stop working.

Communications, light and warmth

• ☐ Working torches and batteries or rechargeable lighting are accessible.
• ☐ Phones can be charged where safe; emergency and network contacts are available offline.
• ☐ Warm layers, suitable blankets and weather protection are ready.
• ☐ Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are checked and fuel-burning appliances are used safely.

Home, travel and review

Leaving home is a different plan: see our UK get-home and 72-hour evacuation backpack checklist. A household reserve does not need to fit into one hiking bag.

• ☐ Check weather and emergency alerts from official sources.
• ☐ Know whether you should shelter, leave, or follow a specific instruction from authorities.
• ☐ Consider safe vehicle supplies for journeys using the Trip Checklist.
• ☐ Set a date to review batteries, dates, medicines and household circumstances.

In a real emergency: act on current official instructions, do not delay a fire evacuation to collect belongings, and call 999 for immediate danger.

A useful 72-hour starting calculation

The UK Government Prepare campaign gives 2.5–3 litres of drinking water per person per day as a minimum survival reference; around 10 litres per person per day allows for a little basic cooking and hygiene too. Requirements vary, and babies, health needs, hot weather and pets can increase them. For four people over three days, the drinking-water reference is 4 × 3 × 2.5–3 = 30–36 litres. That is not a complete household water allowance: see the water planning guide.

When power or water actually stops

• Check immediate safety first. Follow emergency instructions and evacuate promptly if told to do so. Never collect a kit during a fire evacuation.
• Power off: use a torch, conserve phone power, follow your network operator’s updates and keep fridge and freezer doors closed. Never bring outdoor barbecues, petrol generators or camping stoves indoors or into enclosed spaces; carbon monoxide can kill.
• Water off or unsafe: follow your supplier’s current notice. Do not assume a household filter or boiling will make chemically contaminated water drinkable. Use safe stored water as directed.
• Someone needs electricity-dependent medical equipment: arrange a personal contingency plan in advance with the clinical team, care provider and equipment supplier. Ask your utility supplier about its support register; registration does not guarantee uninterrupted supply.
• Keep an offline copy: print key phone numbers, medical contacts, meeting points and safe instructions before an emergency, not after your internet or battery stops working.

Useful contacts across the UK

• Immediate danger: 999.
• Electricity fault: Record the published emergency number for your local electricity network operator. See UK Government power-cut guidance for safety steps.
• Water interruption: Contact your water supplier using its official emergency details and ask about priority assistance if somebody in the household has additional needs.
• Flooding: Check local official flood warnings, follow evacuation instructions and avoid flood water. Save relevant emergency reporting contacts in advance.

Check without spending unnecessarily

Check existing torches, suitable batteries, water, food and warm clothing first. Repair, charge, rotate and practise using what you already own. Only add an item to your shopping list when you can name the gap it fills and verify its suitability. For detailed priorities, build your free household plan.

Official source

UK Government: Get Prepared for Emergencies (includes an official downloadable household emergency plan).

Guide reviewed 14 October 2026. General planning guidance—not a guarantee of safety. Check current official advice and the circumstances of your household.