Electric is off - any tips on getting it back on?

[Bottl]

For some unknown reason the electric is off.
The street lights are still on outside and I've checked all the switches are 'on' except one which has a test button on it. I've tried putting that on but it just flicks straight back to off. There's nothing plugged in that isn't normally.
Has anyone got any simple suggestions to get it back on please? The obvious one being to call an electrician, I know but I start work in an hour and can't change that.

Turn all appliances, sockets and lights off and try again ?

Have you checked nothing has tripped at the mains?

I'd start by switching off some of the kitchen stuff that's usually on (esp kettle, toaster etc) and see if the switch you mentioned stays on after that.

Unplug everything just to see if it's an appliance. Last time this happened to me it was the dish washer!
Try the RCD again. If it helps plug everything back in one at a time and hopefully you will find it. My dishwasher was intermittent though!
If that fails turn off all tbe circuit breakers and see if the RCCD resets. Similarly ifnit resets switch o one by one until you find the offending circuit. The circuit breakers only break the live side so if the is a neutral/ earth fault the circuit breaker won't help.

Dont just switch sockets off as a test as if the fault is earth and neutral it wont help. Unplug each appliance.

Something is tripping it. Turn all appliances off and try again.

Is it the biggest switch that is tripping? If so do you have lots of other switches in a row? If you do, you can turn them all off. Flip the main switch and see if it stays on. If it does you can turn on each switch one by one until it trips. That'll atleast narrow down which ring the problem is on.

Turn anything sensitive off at the plug before touching anything.

Have you gone into your fuse box and checked for any tripped fuses? Usually they are labelled with the room/area so you can identify where the fault is.

Unplug as much as you can the put in the appliances one by one. You want to make sure your freeze, fridge are ok that way you can get to work in time knowing your food is ok, then you can continue to test the rest when you’re back home from work.

Yes unplug each appliance. Irons, kettles and toasters are the usual suspects. Then try the lights first, they should be ok, ups and downstairs will be on different circuits, then start plugging things in one at a time.

I don't what I did differently but I tried the trip switch again and it's stayed on now! Apologies for the pointless thread!!

When this happened to me recently it woz the tumble dryer wot dunnit

Most likely suspects are things that combine water and electricity- condenser dryers, washing machines, kettles etc

Bet it goes off again when you start using stuff

I really don't know what tripped it because nothing different had been switched on.
13 years I've lived in the house, I don't recall the electric ever tripping before.
Anyway, panic over and thank you all so much for replying with your suggestions.

Herdwick - at least if it goes off again I'll have a better idea of how not to panic and I'm now showered so that makes the whole situation better instantly.

Happened to me once. Was the microwave.

The bulb blowing on my cooker hood trips the electric in my house! The first time it took us ages to work out !!