Full list of items Brits are being urged to stockpile in case of national emergency

22 May 2024, 16:26

UK households have been told to prepare an emergency pack in the event of a national crisis - filled with three days worth of food and water.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden revealed a national 'prepare' website to help the public cope in crises like power cuts, floods, cyber-attacks and conflicts.

As well as bottled water and non-perishable food, the households have been told to pack their "emergency kit of items" with battery-powered or wind-up radios, torches, first-aid packs, hand sanitiser and wet wipes.

The kit is intended to help people survive three days at home without leaving their homes at minimal notice.

It comes after it was revealed that over 40 per cent of UK households do not have three days’ worth of supplies including non-perishable food and water.

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Everything you should you have in your emergency home kit

• A list of emergency contact numbers. This should be a paper copy, in case your mobile phone loses power.
• A battery-operated torch and spare batteries, or a wind-up torch.
• Battery-operated radio and spare batteries, or a wind-up radio.
• Any essential medication and a first aid kit.
• Three days’ supply of bottled water and ready-to-eat food that won’t go off.
• Copies of important documents, such as insurance policies and birth certificates. Keep these in a waterproof bag.
• Pencil, paper, penknife and whistle.
• Spare keys to your home and car.
• Spare glasses or contact lenses.
• Baby and pet supplies if needed.

It came as Mr Dowden was expected to announce the government's new website to help households deal with a national emergency.

Speaking at the London defence conference, Mr Dowden is expected to say he is not a “doomsday prepper”, but wants to set out “sensible safeguards – not stockpiling”.

“One thing that Covid made clear – and that remains clear – is that crises can hit us all in ways we might not be able to anticipate and that resilience requires us all to be ready,” he will say.

“Who can forget the empty supermarket shelves in the early days of the pandemic?

“And how many of us have since acted so we’d be better prepared if it happened again?

“If there was a national power outage, how many of us have torches and batteries?“If the water went off, how many of us have a few bottles stored away?

“And if there was a cyber attack, how many of us have the means to listen to the radio without mains power or Wi-Fi?”

The new government website, titled “How would you prepare for an emergency?” offers guidance on how to prepare and get information on hazards.