Government 3day emergency ready

When I was a child we had the strikes in the 1970’s with shortages and sitting in the dark. we also had to practice hiding under our desks in case there was a nuclear attack from Russia. I was also in a couple of IRA bomb scares.

Countries like Switzerland have had a requirement to have a few days emergency rations for years. I always have plenty of stuff in reserve as I bulk buy as it’s cheaper. Not a prepper just organised.

If those of us with the ability to are able to prep a little, it will leave more for those who do live day to day. I think that is the point.

I certainly remember the strikes of the 70s; the lack of power, the bakers going on strike, and sitting huddled around a calor gas heater in the dark, playing cards. it wasn’t much fun for my mum, trying to keep us all fed when we had very little money and she didn’t drive. We lived fairly rurally, in a village that had frequent power cuts. I think that has shaped my mindset a bit. Emergency candles were always under the sink, with matches to light them. These days our power supply is a bit more stable, but we have more severe weather, so swings and roundabouts.

Focus on water and what your 2 year old needs.
You will feel better if you have done what you are able to make sure they are OK.

I’ve seen so many people saying this and it seems like an infantile reaction to me. There is a good chance that there will be power cuts this winter. We know this is likely for a multitude of reasons. Denying it is nonsensical. Making sure you’ve got food for the next three days isn’t “terrifying”, it’s just plain common sense.

I’m sure empty cupboards during a power cut would be far more terrifying than the inconvenience of having to live on cereal bars and cold beans or rice pudding for a few days.

We didn’t have wind up radios in the 70’s but my parents had everything else. We had a small black & white tv that my dad could run off a car battery, a camping stove and calor gas lamps, candles and battery radio. Power outages were regular and scheduled. My parents bought a calor gas fire, it was huge and you pressed a button to fire it up. We all congregated in one room to keep warm.

I dont think its a plan for anything big because its for 3 days only. I think the most likely thing is what they say, weather events which they know are more likely due to el nino, and fuel disruption / power shortages due to Iran.

Its just for people who can, so those who cant can get to shops easier.

I don’t think the food thing is the issue.

For me it’s the water - they recommend 3 litres per person per day. So need to store 12 litres of water somewhere. I shall reluctantly buy a wind up radio as this messaging seems to be really ramping up for some reason.

OP do you have anxiety? I don’t think it’s normal to be as worried as you sound about this. All the gov is doing is bring us inline with the rest of Europe, who all have these warnings in place already. It doesn’t mean anything’s actually going to happen or that the advice is being given because they think it’s likely to be needed. It’s just helping people be prepared in the extremely unlikely event they’ll be stranded in their house for days. Do remember a time in your life ever when the water got cut off, the shops all closed, and the power went out all at once?? No, cos it’s never happened and it’s extremely unlikely to ever happen!

Honestly OP, it used to be very normal to have extra food in the house. We’ve grown so used to 24 hour supermarkets and online deliveries that many people live day to day and just assume there will always be easy access to everything they need. Maybe there will be but at the same time, if you can, try and have extra stuff in. You’re not prepping for Armageddon, you’re just being sensible in case there’s a disruption to power or the supply chain.

Ever since Covid/panic buying silliness, I’ve had a couple of plastic boxes with tinned stuff that I rotate. Also have a camping stove, candles, torch and I have a wind up radio which also has a phone charging function. Governments have always put out big scary warnings like these (that’s a subject for another thread!) but everything from the Y2K panic to ‘weapons of mass destruction’, it’s always been a thing. If you can, take sensible precautions but other than that, being terrified is honestly a wasted emotion.

I find the opposite, that having a few bits in means I don't have to worry or give any more thought to it. I've got young children too and there have been times we couldn't get to the shop because we all came down with a virus so it's not just about power cuts or flooding or whatever...... it's just part of normal household management.

I would just make sure you have some long life things in that don't need cooking but that you will use up normally and can replace so nothing goes to waste. So for us that's porridge oats, long life milk, tinned fruit, crackers, peanut butter, raisins, tuna, tinned sweetcorn etc.

I don't buy lots of bottled water but do fill up old milk bottles each week and if we don't need them use them to water the garden and then refill.

That's quite a small scale event. If it was across a wider area and affected more people, it would take longer to distribute bottled water to everyone and there might not be enough to go round.

As an illustration of 'just because we are asked to prepare not necessarily meaning that the bad thing will happen', Japan has just carried out a 'what if Mount Fuji erupted during peak season' exercise even though it has not erupted for over 300 years and isn't expected to any time soon.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/10/23/japan/mount-fuji-eruption-foreign-tourists/ shows the types of emergency planning that has been done by local authorities the world over for decades.

This ^^

We have well stocked cupboards, something I picked up from my parents. When lockdown happened we didn't need to go to the shop for a week which was really good. I couldn't do a week of uncooked food but we would be ok for 3 days.

Errrrr - yeah we did.

During the time of strikes, 3-day week etc, and electricity was periodically cut off. The newspapers detailed the times - I think it was on a rota - that your postcode/town would lose the power and people made tea/dinner around it.

I have great memories of eating tea in the dark, and a mad scramble to fill thermos flasks and hot water bottles. We played cards by candlelight so to us kids it was a great adventure.

My parents to this day have a box of candles, torches, batteries, matches etc at the ready and always a cupboard full of tinned stuff
”remember the winter of discontent” being the reason.

My village had a burst main last week and no water for 24 hours.

they had a station at the secondary school to collect bottled water quite quickly.

It’s 3 days only! If the emergency started right now, I’m sure you have more than enough supplies in your cupboards, fridge and freezer! You might run out of bread and milk but you will not starve.

I became a biit of a cupboard hoarder after Covid. I always make sure I have extra medicines and stuff in stock too. I've been a bit lax on the toilet roll though, must remember that's always the first to go! Started keeping extra bottled water after a local issue this summer where water supplies were off for days.

There's always the fear of "they know something we don't know" but there have always been storms etc so it's as well to be prepared for such things. The idea of cyber attacks is a bit concerning as I hadn't given much thought as to just how much is controlled by online systems until the cyber attack that managed to take control of the fridges in French supermarkets.

I remember enjoying all the power cuts in the 70’s and remember my mums stashes of extra weetabix etc. It was exciting to be sitting in candle light and playing games. In retrospect i’m not sure my parents enjoyed it…

They don’t want the panic buying of Covid, so if most people have a few days worth of stuff, there won’t be the same panic rush at the shops and there will be more available for those who haven’t prepared as well as they’d have liked. People like you. So there is no need to panic. If you can, just buy a couple of tins or jars each week. If not, then don’t worry. Make sure you have a torch or a free candles. Fill up the bath if there is a power cut and fill a few saucepans with water. You’ll be fine. You can live on cold stuff for a few days. We all can.

No, I refuse to allow the government and the media (which is the same entity) to keep 'terrifying' me. I refuse to read their shit or believe anything they say. They make me sick. It seems they are hellbent on controlling everyone via emotion like fear, anger, panic, jealousy, negativity etc.

I've opted out.

Think you might be in a better place if you try doing the same thing.

If you genuinely can't afford to buy the things on the list, try not to worry.

The idea is that as many people as possible do, so there's fewer people that need help urgently should something happen.

Not that the recommendations mean something is going to happen, just that we'll be in a better position to cope if it does. I work on the fringes of emergency planning and most of the scenarios we spend a lot of time preparing for probably will never happen or are once in a century events, if that.

But your reaction to this is way out of proportion, do you have any real life support?

I think you seem a bit over invested in the thread. Hopefully you at least realise it’s fairly normal to have 3 days of stuff in your house and that perhaps your recollection of the 70s differs from others’ memories. Are you saying you don’t have kitchen cupboards? That’s where people would usually have 3 days of food. Most kitchens have at least one place to put food.
Even on the bones of our arses in the 90s when we had broken biscuits because we couldn’t afford proper ones we always had a few candles and a couple of tins of paste, tuna or jam and a bag of raisins or some tinned pineapples for powercuts. It’s really very normal to have a couple of spare tins of food and you don’t need to be rich or have a big house to own food.

Yes, there were planned cuts because of electricity shortages in the early 70s miners strikes so we had torches and candles etc. But there have always been unplanned power cuts of various durations for all sorts of reasons over the years - mostly weather but we’ve had quite a lot of mostly fairly short ones in the last few years (I think due to all the house building, cables being accidentally cut or suchlike, internet too a couple of times).

Yes, but we had battery radios because they were the norm. Nothing to do with prepping.

Of course we had battery radios, I got a little transistor radio from my Grandpa for my birthday, worked off a 9V battery, I think.

And you don't have to buy extra food. Just make sure some of the food you buy regularly does not need cooking. Bread, tinned beans, etc.

@ErrolTheDragon we had warnings of power outages in the seventies. I remember my mother leaving work early so she could cook tea before the power went off.