72-hour emergency kit UK: practical supplies for three days at home

A 72-hour emergency kit is a household supply of essentials for three days when shops, utilities or travel are disrupted. It does not need to be a specialist survival kit or fit in a backpack. Start with drinking water, food that needs neither cooking nor refrigeration, essential health supplies, lighting, warmth and a way to receive information. This follows the current Government Be Ready checklist.

Start with the people, not the container

Write down who is likely to be at home, including children, regular visitors who need support and pets. Check cupboards before buying. Mark what is already usable, what needs replacing and what is missing. Use the printable 72-hour checklist to record quantities and storage locations. Keep bulky supplies where they are safely stored and accessible; a small box can hold the torch, radio, batteries and paper plan.

Three days is a planning starting point, not a promise that services return on a deadline or an instruction to remain in an unsafe home. Follow evacuation advice. Keep a separate portable grab bag for leaving.

Water and meals

• Drinking water: Be Ready specifies 3 litres per person per day for three days. Multiply the daily amount by the number of people and days. Allow more separately for food preparation, washing and other needs; pets need their own supply. Read the water storage guide before selecting containers.
• Food: plan breakfast, lunch, an evening meal and suitable snacks for each day. Choose familiar shelf-stable items that can safely be eaten without cooking. Check labels: not every tin, packet or dried food is ready to eat.
• Access: include a manual tin opener where needed, ordinary cutlery and suitable bowls. Try the packaging: easy-open rings may still be difficult with reduced grip.
• Portions: choose pack sizes your household can finish safely if refrigeration is unavailable. Do not count food that requires cooking water or an electric hob as your only reserve.

Use the three-day food guide for meal planning and safe rotation. Ordinary supermarket food is usually more useful than unfamiliar specialist rations. Never bring a barbecue, camping stove or outdoor heater indoors to make the menu work.

The rest of the home checklist

• Lighting: a working torch and the correct spare batteries, or a charged rechargeable torch with a compatible charging method. Put it where it can be found in darkness. Be Ready advises torches rather than candles.
• Warmth: warm layers, blankets or sleeping bags already in the home. Think about everyone’s ability to stay warm rather than assuming the central heating works without power.
• Information: a battery or wind-up FM radio. Tune a station at home and write down its frequency. A phone radio app is not the same as a standalone broadcast receiver.
• Phone power: a charged power bank and the right cable. Try charging your actual phone. A USB bank is not automatically suitable for medical equipment or a router.
• Health: first-aid supplies you know how to use, essential prescribed medicines and a written list of regular medicines and doses. Keep repeat prescriptions on their normal ordering cycle and ask your pharmacist or care team about interruption planning.
• Hygiene: soap, hand sanitiser, wipes, toilet paper, menstrual or continence supplies and waste bags appropriate to the household.
• Money and documents: a modest amount of cash you can afford, cards, essential contact numbers and copies of key documents stored securely. Electronic payments may be unavailable.
• The plan: include your written contact and support arrangements, not just equipment.

Adapt the kit to your home

Babies and children

Include nappies, wipes, suitable food and familiar comfort items. Be Ready recommends ready-to-feed formula where formula is needed because safe preparation of powdered formula may be difficult without boiling water. Follow the product’s storage, opening and feeding instructions and get feeding advice if unsure. Do not assume adult emergency food is suitable for a young child.

Disability, long-term conditions and older people

Include spare glasses, hearing-aid supplies, accessible labels and the person’s usual care items where relevant. Ask the equipment provider about approved backup power, safe runtime and what to do when it runs out. Plan for refrigerated medicines with a pharmacist; a household cool bag is not automatically a safe solution. Agree who will check in and how they will gain safe access.

Pets

Keep familiar pet food, drinking water, bowls and necessary care supplies. Put a lead or carrier and identification information with the evacuation arrangements. Do not count the household’s drinking supply twice.

Flats, shared homes and limited budgets

Distribute supplies across safe storage locations and write those locations down. Keep exits clear, heavy water low and batteries away from unsuitable heat. Agree ownership and replacement of shared food. Use the beginner guide’s flat and renter section if storage or building access is difficult. Build gradually; the first useful steps can be free.

Make the kit usable, then maintain it

1. Ask another household member to find the torch, water and contact sheet without your help.
2. Try a planned no-cook meal using normal supplies; replace anything used.
3. Check the radio, batteries, charging cables and accessibility of containers.
4. Check food dates and storage instructions, rotate through normal meals, and replace used supplies promptly.
5. Review every six months, as Be Ready recommends, and whenever household needs change.

Keep this routine small and repeatable. A kit you understand and maintain is more useful than a sealed box nobody has opened.