Candles, matches, torches are you organized??

[justasking111]

Just been out the roads are mad busy, ditto shops. Battening down the hatches I guess. Our house all electric so we're stuffed if the power goes down we're in a red area. But we do have candles, matches and torches so will be hunkering down with a book .

Anyone better prepared

I haven't done anything to prepare. We've got loads of food and drinks, the cat has got all his food. The washing has all been done. I'm not worried.

Not thought to do anything.....should I have ??
In a red zone...local schools closed tomorrow

If you have glass topped patio furniture, turn it over. Learn from my experience that hoovering your lawn is not fun!
Same goes for bins, bird tables, anything that might fall into anything else.
If you can remove the netting from a trampoline then do it. It is like a trampoline graveyard up here.
Fill up a few pans of water. We lost water at one point too.

Nothing much. London outskirts here. I don't think we will be hit heavily in this part of the country (hopefully).

Download a few things from netflix and charge your devices. Many, many places had no power for more than four days...it soon gets hard work!

I was a kid when I last had a powercut during a storm. Last powercut we had was when the mountain went on fire 4 years ago. Its amazing really considering where my house is.

I always have candles. Thats it

I spent a chunk of my early life in what was then called the Third World.

I always know where the candles and matches are. I remember as a student having the twitch and not knowing why, until I worked it out and made sure I had candles and matches under the kitchen sink...

Re trampolines, in the Faroe Islands they routinely weigh them down with jerrycans of water lashed firmly to the legs.

@A580Hojas

Where do you all live? I'm in London should I be worried?

I'm wondering that too!

I'm just going to go to bed if the power gets cut. Daylight starts at 7 ish, voila!

I remember being a kid in the 80s and always having emergency candles and matches under the sink!

I'm just out of the red zone but I have a bit of a scented candle habit so should be good in the event of a power cut.

Our heating is gas so not a problem.

Good luck to those in the red

Our power is already out. We're in Surrey. We did not see this coming. We never have dramatic weather - it's Surrey for God's sake

We are always prepared. We have regular powercuts in bad weather.

Those saying 'I'll just go to the supermarket' don't seem to be considering that these places aren't always open either. Even if they have back up power staff might not be able to get in or it night be considered unsafe for them to open. Red alert storms aren't just a bit of wind they can be devastating.

For those with children it's worth ensuring that not only are electronics charged up that they also gave stuff that can be accessed offline. Also consider just how dark it is with no electricity (streetlights will be off too) and ensure you have some source of battery powered light in every room. Dig out the battery operated Christmas lights if you need to!

If you have a flask fill it full of hit water. Many boliers still need electricity to operate so bear in mind you might not have heating/hot water if it goes off.

Think about what food you could prepare with no heat source - sandwiches, cold pies etc

Think about where trees are in relation to your house and car and which rooms in the house could be hit by falling trees.

Move any obstacles in hall ways/ on stairs to reduce the risk of trips and falls in the dark.

I really hope we dont get a power cut. I did a marathon batch cooking session at the weekend so I'd be really pissed off if the freezer was off for more than a day.

Apparently so. London is supposed to suffer the worst of it.

I have plenty of battery operated fairy lights around the house and replacement batteries and Loads of candles as well. I will make sure that I fully charge my phone and ds switch to keep him happy. I've got a gas hob so will be able to at least boil water for a cuppa. Fingers crossed its not too bad for everyone.

Gas hobs need electric for the ignition so check you have some way of lighting it without.

The last storm we lost water and power for a day. Our local water pumping station thing is a bit feeble. I have filled some bottles with water and put buckets in bath with water in to flush the toilets.
I have some candles and fairyights if needed and we have a log burner and plenty of wood.
That's about it.

The hearing might be gas but doesn’t the boiler need electric too?

*heating!!

@Frlrlrubert

I remember being a kid in the 80s and always having emergency candles and matches under the sink!

I'm just out of the red zone but I have a bit of a scented candle habit so should be good in the event of a power cut.

Our heating is gas so not a problem.

Good luck to those in the red

Mine is also gas but the boiler has an electrical on /off switch so I think it won't work if we have a powercut.

@Furrybutts

Apparently so. London is supposed to suffer the worst of it.

I hadn't seen this - assumed we'd be fine as not in the red zone. Haven't seen anything about London?

I have just taped up the letter box and bin lids though

Phones, laptop are charged. I’ll plug iPad in later. Torch is currently charging. My car is electric and that’s charging now in case power goes down soon (it would usually charge overnight). Cat flap is locked and cat is in. Lightweight bistro set is in the outbuilding and heavier stuff is in a sheltered area.

Yes, same here @RichardMarxisinnocent, gas CH but needs electricity to power the boiler, so useless in a powercut

We're slap bang in the middle of the red area so everything has been charged up. Made tomorrow night's dinner already in case of a power cut. Brought the gas stove in from the campervan to use as needed. We can always relocate out there and run off the leisure battery for a bit too. Candles and torches out. About as much as we can do really.