The UK government has issued new advice to Brits, encouraging them to have an emergency kit packed with at least three days’ worth of supplies – but what should be in it?
Guidance from UK authorities has urged residents to assemble 72-hour emergency kits within their homes, leaving some perplexed over what should be included and where to store their items. Governments in both the UK and Europe have begun to encourage people to put together essential supplies that could sustain them for at least three days in times of crisis.
In the UK, this message has been reinforced by the unveiling of the Prepare website by Oliver Dowden. This portal provides practical advice for ensuring households are better equipped to deal with various emergencies such as floods, power outages or pandemics.
According to the website, emergency kits should ideally contain:
The UK government has acknowledged that buying all these items at once may prove challenging for some. Instead, the advice is to build up supplies gradually as and when possible, avoiding panic buying, reports the Daily Record.
The European Commission is also pushing for greater disaster preparedness among EU citizens. They are asking individuals to stock at least 72 hours’ worth of food, water, and vital necessities in anticipation of various crisis situations, including natural disasters, health emergencies, or armed conflicts.
This initiative is part of a wider strategy to improve community resilience and standardise disaster response mechanisms across Europe. For those with limited space, experts have offered advice on how and where to store these emergency supplies.
Creating and stocking an emergency pantry
Not all homes have the luxury of a full-sized pantry, but even the smallest kitchens can make room for 72 hours’ worth of supplies.
Allocate one kitchen cupboard for long-lasting food such as canned meals (like ravioli or baked beans with sausages), tinned fruit, dry pasta, UHT milk, and high-calorie snacks like energy bars. Building up a pantry all at once can be pricey, so spread out the cost by adding a few extra items to your weekly shop, and rotate them regularly to ensure they’re within their use-by dates.
A mini pantry can prove invaluable during power cuts or if the household falls ill and can’t get to the shops.
Use stackable clear boxes for essential items
Emergency supplies are useless if you can’t find them when needed, so consider investing in some stackable, clear storage boxes. These can be used to store essentials such as spare power banks, batteries, torches, tools, first aid supplies, hygiene products, baby necessities, and additional blankets or foil blankets.
Once you’ve packed each box by category, store them in a central yet out-of-the-way spot, such as under the stairs or in a low kitchen cupboard. These should be easily accessible to everyone and kept indoors, not hidden away in the loft or garage.
This is also a perfect place to keep bottled water and extra loo rolls.
Create a Grab-and-Go bag
In the US, professional preppers might refer to this as a ‘bug-out bag’, but essentially it’s a small bag packed with essentials you’d need if you had to leave home in a hurry. This could prove invaluable in situations like evacuations due to flooding or other local emergencies.
Choose a compact yet sturdy bag, about the size of a school backpack, and ensure it includes: a torch, charging packs (don’t forget the cables), a plastic pouch for medications and important documents, snacks like cereal or energy bars, a few small bottles of water, and any essential medication.
Ideally, this should be stored somewhere easily accessible to all, near the front door – perhaps in a hallway cupboard. To ensure it’s instantly recognisable as the emergency grab bag, consider tying a colourful ribbon around a strap so everyone knows which bag it is.
Don’t forget the car boot
After securing a 72-hour survival kit for your home, it’s wise to equip your car as well. The boot is the perfect spot for an emergency stash, invaluable during breakdowns or when stuck in traffic due to severe weather.
Key items to have on hand include blankets, lightweight yet warm clothing such as fleeces, a high-visibility jacket, snacks rich in energy, and bottled water.
Sarah Day, a storage expert from Pay Less for Storage, said: “While this news might understandably be worrying for some, remember it’s not intended to scare you, just to ensure that everyone is well prepared in the event of an emergency. And remember, preparedness doesn’t mean panic buying or anxiously hoarding – it means planning for the worst and sensibly storing what you need.
“A pre-packed emergency kit can make a big difference in stressful situations, whether it’s a blackout caused by cyber interference or flooding caused by mother nature. The key to this is accessibility and suitable storage, think boxes you can find in the dark, home insurance documents carefully placed to grab and go, food you’ll actually eat if the lights go out, and storage systems that fit your space.
“Many of us already have most of the items we need, but they’re lost in cluttered cupboards or overstuffed drawers. With a few small tweaks, you can repurpose those spaces to make your home not just tidier, but more resilient too.”