Right now: at least 1,204 homes are without power from 68 unplanned cuts, in the 4 of 7 network areas that publish live data. Updated 13:30 on 6 November. See wherePower off? Call 105
Your home is the bunker.
Power cuts, storms and price shocks. Plain advice and honest numbers for keeping your house running, whatever the grid does. Prepared, not paranoid.
Buying through our links costs you nothing extra. Some of them earn us a small commission, and that's what keeps Survival Bunker going: it pays for the time it takes to keep our picks and figures up to date. Thank you for helping. How we choose and how we earn.
If the power goes off
Northern Ireland: call NIE Networks on 03457 643643.
Then the government's Be Ready advice:
- Keep fridge and freezer doors closed so they stay cold for longer.
- Turn off irons, ovens, electric fires and fryers, and unplug the TV and computer.
- Check in on neighbours.
Start here
- Why your heating stops in a power cut
Gas and oil boilers need electricity too. How to stay warm.
- The best power stations for a UK power cut
What size you need, and the models worth a look.
- Your fridge and freezer in a power cut
How long food stays safe, and what to do with the doors.
- The 72-hour kit
A printable checklist, with water worked out for your household.
- Wind-up radios worth having
News when the phone network and the power are both down.
- Keeping warm for less
Electric blankets, heated throws and hot water bottles: what they cost an hour.
- Storing water for an emergency
How much, how to keep it, and what to do when the taps stop.
- Camping stoves for a power cut
A hot meal when the hob is off. Outdoors only.
- Is plug-in solar worth it?
What a balcony panel saves, and what it doesn't do.
Kit we'd buy this winter
EcoFlow DELTA 3
Keeps the lights on1,024 Wh and 1,800 W. Our sizer puts a modern fridge-freezer, router and two phones at roughly 8.4 h to 32 h. Switches over in under 10 ms if the power drops while it's plugged in.
Black Diamond Spot 400
Works with no power at allA head torch on three AAA batteries that keep for years in a drawer: both hands free for the fuse box, the stairs or the kettle. Red light, and waterproof.
Octopus Energy Single panel plug-in solar bundle
Cuts your billsOne 460 W panel that plugs into an ordinary socket. It trims your bill on sunny days. It switches off in a power cut, so it isn't backup.