UK preppers and the Be Ready campaign: is there more to it than meets the eye?

The week the government told us to stock up#

On 22 October 2026 the Cabinet Office published updated household advice and launched a campaign called Be Ready. If you missed it, the headline version is this: the government wants every household that can manage it to hold three days of water and food that doesn't need cooking, plus a torch, a wind-up or battery FM radio, a power bank, a first aid kit, medication, cash and copies of important documents.

The official press release is deliberately low key. It talks about "small, simple steps", severe weather, and bringing the UK in line with France, Ireland and the Netherlands, which also advise three days. It calls Be Ready the first stage of a three-year campaign, with more than 500 organisations signed up to share the messaging and social media and radio advertising to follow.

The reaction has been loud. A BBC Question Time audience member accused Wes Streeting of scaremongering. Prepper shops reported surges in orders. The Guardian found no evidence of mass panic buying so far. And a lot of people are asking the obvious question: is this really about storms and burst pipes, or is there more to it than meets the eye?

I want to answer that properly, and then, because the whole point is to be useful, cover what to actually keep in the house if the power goes off, how to cook without electricity, and what changes if things go truly badly.

What the government says it is for#

The official framing is everyday emergencies. The press release points to last winter's storms and this summer's wildfires. Storm Goretti in January left tens of thousands of homes without power in the Midlands, the south-west and Wales. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said that "by taking simple steps to be ready for everyday emergencies like severe storms, people can reduce pressure on emergency services, helping them prioritise people who need more support in an emergency."

That is a sensible argument. If the households that can cope for 72 hours do so, the ones who cannot get help sooner. The government is also explicit that not everyone can do everything, and the guidance says to build up gradually, check your cupboards first, and check expiry dates every six months.

It is also worth saying that this is not entirely new. The government has published household resilience advice since May 2024. Be Ready is the old "Prepare" website with new branding and new messaging, and the Cabinet Office says "much of the advice has not changed".

What was said around it#

Here is where the tone shifts. Launching the campaign, Wes Streeting, the Defence Secretary, told the Guardian that "terms like 'hybrid warfare' and 'grey zone threats' do not accurately capture or convey to the general public what I prefer to describe as 'state-sponsored terrorism'". He said those threats are "not hypothetical but real, and not somewhere else but increasingly here", and that "we have to step up and take seriously our national resilience as well as our national defence."

The announcement was made at a new Rheinmetall tank gun barrel factory in Telford, part of efforts to speed up rearmament. The same coverage mentioned Russian spy ships tracked near undersea cables, sabotage incidents elsewhere in Europe, and that 32 UK government websites were taken offline as a precaution over a PHP vulnerability on the day of the launch.

Then, on Question Time, Streeting said the government wants "people to be alert but not alarmed", and that there was not a "specific thing we've got in mind". He said the supplies might help "through some power cuts", or if "your local shop's subject to a cyber-attack and your card isn't working at the till".

Put those side by side and you can see why people are asking questions. A leaflet about torches and tinned fruit, delivered in the language of hybrid warfare, at an arms factory.

So, is there more to it than meets the eye?#

My honest answer is yes, but not in the way the internet usually means it. I do not see evidence of a secret imminent event the public is being quietly prepared for. Streeting said there is no specific thing in mind, and the published advice is generic all-hazards advice. What I do see is a handful of things that are true, a bit uncomfortable, and worth reading closely.

1. The threat model is wider than the leaflet#

The written advice is about storms and outages. The ministerial language is about state-sponsored sabotage and cyber attacks. Both can be true at once, because the practical answer to both is the same: water, food, warmth, light, information and cash. That is exactly why all-hazards advice exists. But it does mean the public message is softer than the private worry. One UK prepper group admin told the Daily Mail that whatever happens, the preparedness advice is "pretty much the same": food, shelter and water.

2. "Three days" is a choice, and the government's own worst case is longer#

This is the part I find most interesting. The Be Ready checklist says being ready for three days "helps you manage while support reaches those most in need". Cambridge Risk, a business continuity consultancy, asked the right question: is three days a target, or an admission? In other words, is it roughly how long the government expects organised help to take?

The National Risk Register 2025 gives the context. It says Great Britain has never experienced a nationwide loss of power and the likelihood is low. But its reasonable worst case for a total failure of the national transmission system describes power returning in pockets within hours, a "skeletal network" within a few days, and full restoration taking up to seven days, with critical services taking months depending on damage. It also describes secondary impacts across mobile and internet, water, sewage, fuel and gas.

That is a low-likelihood scenario. But if it ever happened, three days would not cover it. The same register notes that cyber-caused recovery could take longer than expected. So three days is best read as a starting point that most people can realistically afford, not a promise that help arrives on day four. Even the prepper shop owner quoted by the Guardian called three days the "sweet spot" because a month would feel overwhelming and most people would do nothing.

3. The state is asking households to carry some of the risk#

The National Audit Office reported on 4 September that Defra had done "too little in recent years" to engage households, communities and industry on food supply resilience, that UK households are less prepared than in several other countries according to government research, that the last national exercise on catastrophic food disruption was in 2023, and that Defra lacks legal powers it may need in a catastrophic event.

Critics on the right, such as spiked, argue the campaign "blames the public for the elite's failures" and that governments of all stripes neglected infrastructure, energy security and defence. You do not have to agree with their politics or their view on net zero to see the underlying point: asking citizens to hold a buffer is a legitimate resilience measure, but it is not a substitute for resilient infrastructure. Both things need to be true at the same time. A fair reading is that the campaign is a cheap, fast layer, and the expensive slow layers (grid, water, fuel, food supply chains, defence) are a separate conversation the leaflet does not answer.

4. Soft public preparation for a harder conversation#

This one is my interpretation, not a fact. Britain has rarely run public information campaigns, because governments of both parties fear being accused of scaremongering. The last big one, Protect and Survive in 1980, was widely mocked. A three-year drip of calm, practical messaging, with a ministerial vocabulary that already uses "state-sponsored terrorism", looks like a way to normalise the idea of disruption before it happens, so that if something does happen the public is less shocked and a bit more ready. Dr Sarita Robinson from the University of Lancashire told the Guardian that accurate messaging does not generally cause panic and that "when we start to hide information and there's a void of information, that's when things can go wrong for government."

You can see that as responsible, or as conditioning. I think it is mostly the former, but the honest critique is that the government could say more plainly what it is worried about. The UK Preppers Club admin in the Mail put it as: "If they had a truly honest conversation a few years back... it would've been better than coming out and drip feeding us the same thing every time."

5. The panic-buying worry is real but so far unproven#

The Question Time worry, that telling people to stock up causes shortages and price rises, is reasonable. We all remember the toilet roll shelves in 2020. But the Guardian reported no evidence the advice has triggered mass panic stockpiling so far, and the guidance itself says to build gradually. The same psychologist pointed to a Covid-era study where people who did mild prepping beforehand had lower anxiety and depression.

My read#

Be Ready is sensible advice for a more volatile world, delivered with more geopolitical subtext than the leaflet admits, and aimed partly at a resilience gap that households alone cannot close. Whatever you think of the motives, the advice costs little, protects you against things that really do happen (storms, outages, cyber incidents that stop card payments), and is the same advice emergency planners have given for years. I would follow it even if the politics put me off.

The UK prepper scene is not what the stereotype says#

It is worth saying that "prepper" no longer means a bunker and a stack of rifles. UK groups like the UK Preppers Club on Facebook, reported at nearly 17,000 members, describe themselves as ordinary people sharing practical tips on household resilience, with a roughly even gender split. Start Prepping UK told the Guardian its traffic was up 700% since news of the campaign emerged in August. Sgt Prepper Shop said it received a month's worth of orders in the first 24 hours.

Their central criticism of the government list is useful rather than conspiratorial: a list of items is not a plan. People need to know how to divide water between drinking, cooking, washing and toilet flushing, what to do when the loo will not flush, and where family members are when it happens. That is where the rest of this post goes.

If the power goes off: what to keep in the house#

First, what actually stops working. The government's power cut guidance says gas ovens, boilers, heat pumps and your home internet will not work without power, your mobile might stop working if your local mast is affected, and mains water can be disrupted during and after a power cut.

So plan around light, warmth, water, food, information, power, hygiene, health and money.

Light, power and information#

• Torches and head torches with spare batteries, or wind-up. The government says torches are safer than candles. Head torches keep your hands free.
• A battery or wind-up FM radio. Write down the frequencies of the stations you use, because you cannot look them up when the internet is gone. The guidance suggests trying FM and digital modes. A wind-up radio with a built-in torch and USB charging port is a good all-rounder.
• Power banks, charged and kept charged. Treat them like a fire extinguisher: check them every few months.
• Spare batteries in the sizes your torches and radio use.
• A corded landline if you still have one. The government notes a corded phone might keep working, while a cordless one will not.
• A paper list of key numbers. 105 reports a power cut in England, Scotland and Wales (03457 643643 in Northern Ireland). Include family, medication details and insurance policies.

Water#

• The government figure is 3 litres per person per day for drinking, for three days, with more needed for cooking and washing. That is 9 litres per person, or 36 litres for a family of four. That is a lot of storage, so I would build up gradually.
• My own rule of thumb is to plan for more than the drinking minimum, closer to 5 or 6 litres per person per day once you include cooking and basic washing. Treat that as my view, not official advice.
• Add a way to make more safe water: purification tablets or drops, and/or a filter (check what it removes, because not all filters deal with viruses). Boiling works too, if you have fuel.
• Know where your stopcock is so you can turn the water off if pipes are damaged.
• If you get warning of an outage, fill a bath or large containers for flushing and washing. Do not use stored bath water for drinking.

Food#

• No-cook food you actually like. The guidance says tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts, and to buy food you would usually eat. Add peanut butter, crackers, oat bars, cereal, tinned fruit and UHT milk. Do not forget a tin opener, ideally two.
• Aim for roughly 2,000 calories per adult per day, which is a rough planning figure, not individual dietary advice. Protein and fat matter in the cold.
• Baby and pet food. Ready-to-feed formula is safest, because you may not be able to boil water or sterilise bottles.
• Comfort food and a hot drink option. Morale is a real part of getting through a bad few days.

Warmth#

• Blankets, sleeping bags and warm layers. The guidance warns that homes cool quickly once heating stops, and that older adults, babies and anyone with long-term illness are most at risk.
• Close doors to unused rooms and draw the curtains to keep heat in. Live in one room if it goes on for more than a day.
• A hot water bottle you can fill from boiled water.
• A battery-powered CO alarm, especially if you are going to use any alternative heat or cooking source (more on that below).

Hygiene, health and documents#

• Wet wipes, hand sanitiser, toilet paper, bin bags, soap, sanitary products and nappies.
• A first aid kit with waterproof plasters, bandages, a thermometer, antiseptic, eyewash, sterile dressings, gloves, tape and tweezers.
• Essential medication. Order repeat prescriptions in good time (the guidance says up to five working days before you need them) so you do not run low. Do not hoard beyond what your pharmacist can support.
• Cash, in small notes and coins, and printed copies of ID, insurance and medical instructions.
• Sign up to the Priority Services Register if you are eligible. It is free, lots of households qualify, including those with children under five, and it takes minutes.

How to cook food without electricity#

Step 1: Do not cook if you do not have to#

The cheapest and safest approach in the first 72 hours is food that needs no cooking at all. Most tinned food is already cooked and can be eaten cold. A simple three-day plan might look like this:

• Breakfast: oats or muesli soaked in UHT milk, with dried fruit.
• Lunch: tinned tuna or beans with crackers and peanut butter.
• Dinner: tinned meatballs, curry or ravioli, tinned fruit and a chocolate bar.

Warm food does wonders for morale, but it is a bonus, not a necessity.

Step 2: Eat the fridge and freezer first#

Before you open the cupboard, use what will go off. The Food Standards Agency says that if a power cut is under four hours, food safety is unlikely to be affected. Beyond that, keep the doors closed. A fridge stays cold for up to 4 hours. A full freezer stays frozen for up to 48 hours, or 24 hours if half full. These are estimates. If the fridge reaches 8°C or above, chilled food should be eaten within 4 hours or thrown away. The FSA's order of use is:

1. Food that needs refrigeration.
2. Defrosted frozen food that does not need cooking.
3. Room-temperature perishable food.
4. Room-temperature canned, bottled and dried food.

In cold weather (below 8°C) you can store food outside in a sealed box, away from animals and sun. A fridge thermometer is cheap and removes the guesswork.

Step 3: Your actual options for hot food#

Gas hob. The government is clear that gas ovens will not work, but many gas hobs can still be lit with a match or lighter when the electric ignition is down. This depends on your model, so check your manual now rather than in the dark. If you smell gas, turn off appliances, open windows and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.

Camping stove. This is the most practical option for most households. A butane or gas cartridge stove, a multi-fuel stove, a meths burner or a solid-fuel stove each need very little storage space. Use it outdoors only, such as a garden, patio or open doorway well away from the building. Change gas cartridges outdoors and away from any ignition source, and follow the manufacturer's storage instructions. Avoid keeping large amounts of fuel if you live in a flat.

BBQ. Gas or charcoal, outdoors only. London Fire Brigade advises against using a BBQ on a balcony because of fire risk, and keep it on level ground away from sheds, fences and trees.

Small wood or fuel-block stoves. A compact outdoor stove that burns twigs or fuel blocks can boil water with very little fuel. Only use one where fires are allowed, and never in dry, windy or wildfire conditions.

Thermal cooking and flasks. This is underrated. Pour boiled water over couscous, instant noodles or oats in a lidded container or a vacuum flask and leave it. A well-insulated flask can keep water hot for hours, and you only need to boil once.

Portable power station. If you own one, boiling a kettle is a good use of it, but a small unit gives you a handful of boils, not hours of cooking. Treat it as a bonus for hot drinks and phone charging.

Fuel-saving tricks#

• Put a lid on the pan.
• Cut food small so it cooks faster.
• Cook one-pot meals.
• Boil a full flask rather than just a cup each time.
• Choose quick-cook foods such as couscous, instant noodles, thin pasta and red lentils.

The rule that matters most: carbon monoxide#

Fire services give the same warning: never use camping stoves, BBQs, charcoal or generators indoors. They produce carbon monoxide, which you cannot see or smell and which can kill in minutes in an enclosed space. London Fire Brigade warns that an extinguished BBQ can keep producing CO for many hours and that it can travel through walls. Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service says that opening tent flaps, doors or windows is not enough to stop CO building up from these devices. Also:

• Fit a battery-powered CO alarm certified to EN 50291 in any room with a fuel-burning appliance, and keep one near where you sleep.
• Do not use your oven or hob as a space heater.
• If you must use candles, keep them in holders away from anything flammable, and never leave them alone or carry them between rooms. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service notes that crews can be called to fires started by candles or portable heaters during power cuts.
• If you suspect CO poisoning, get everyone outside, call 999 and do not go back in until it has been checked.

If it is worse than a power cut: the worst-case list#

Three days is the floor. Here is what I would add if the scenario is longer, wider, or involves more than one thing failing at once, which is exactly what the National Risk Register describes: power, then telecoms, then water, then fuel.

Build towards a week or two#

Because the government's own worst case for a national blackout is up to seven days to full restoration, a week is a sensible next target. Build it slowly, through your normal shop:

• Rice, pasta, oats, lentils, tinned tomatoes, tinned fish, tinned beans, peanut butter, UHT or powdered milk, cooking oil, salt, sugar, honey, tea and coffee.
• Store what you eat and eat what you store. Rotate your stock so nothing expires, and check it every six months, as the government suggests.
• A multivitamin is a cheap way to cover gaps if your diet narrows.

Water and sanitation are what really bite#

After a few days, toilets and drinking water are the problem, not food.

• Flushing without mains water: pour a bucket of water straight into the bowl. If that is not possible, line a bucket with a bin bag, add absorbent material such as cat litter or sawdust, tie it up and double bag it. It is unpleasant to think about, which is exactly why it is worth sorting out in advance.
• Washing: wet wipes first, then a bowl of warm water.
• Safe water: boil for at least a minute, treat with tablets or use a suitable filter. Containers such as collapsible jerry cans or food-grade water carriers are cheap and stack flat when empty.
• Rainwater from a water butt can be used for flushing and washing, but do not drink it untreated.

Warmth if the heating is gone for days#

• Stay in one room, use layers and sleeping bags, and share body heat if needed.
• Prioritise the vulnerable: older people, babies, anyone unwell.
• Do not bring outdoor heating or cooking equipment inside.

Money, fuel and transport#

• Cash matters because card readers and cash machines depend on power and networks. The government recommends a mix of coins and notes.
• Keep your car's tank reasonably full (my rule of thumb is never below half), because fuel pumps need electricity and queues form fast. Keep a winter kit in the boot: torch, charger, blankets, food and drink, hi-vis, shovel.
• A grab bag with documents, medication, a torch, power bank, water and snacks, in case you have to leave quickly (for example in a flood).

Medical and mobility#

• If you rely on powered medical equipment, make a plan with your care provider now, including what happens if the power fails. The guidance is explicit about this.
• Keep spare glasses, hearing aid batteries and any mobility aids.
• Ask your landline provider whether your phone works in a power cut. Some provide a free backup battery.

Your digital life when the network is down#

This is where my security background kicks in, and it is the part most checklists skip. A cyber-driven disruption is exactly the scenario the government is worried about, so think about what you cannot do if the internet, mobile network or card payments go down.

• Print or keep offline your key documents, account numbers, important phone numbers and recovery codes.
• SMS codes will not arrive if the mast is down. Authenticator apps generate codes offline, so make sure you have them set up and have a recovery method that does not depend on the network.
• Smart locks, garage doors, gates and alarms: know how to open them manually, and keep a physical key.
• Don't rely on cloud-only access for anything essential. A small encrypted USB stick with copies of what matters is cheap insurance.
• Treat any phone call or message during a crisis with suspicion. Scammers love disruption.

People are the real resilience#

Every official source says the same thing: talk to your neighbours. Swap numbers, agree who checks on whom, and find out who has medical needs, who has a camping stove, who has a generator and who has a chainsaw. The government suggests a neighbourhood messaging group and a plan to check on anyone vulnerable if the power goes out. If a longer disruption happens, the street you live on is more useful than any stockpile.

It also means being sensible about your own supplies. Do not advertise a big stockpile, and equally do not hoard so heavily that you leave nothing for others. The point of being prepared is that you can help.

A realistic way to start#

If this all feels like a lot, it is, so do not try to do it in a weekend.

1. This week, for free: sign up to the Priority Services Register if eligible, write down your key numbers on paper, find your stopcock, check whether your gas hob lights manually, and check your fridge thermometer.
2. This month, for a few pounds: a radio, torches, spare batteries, a tin opener, wet wipes, a CO alarm and a first aid kit.
3. Over the next few months, through your normal shop: an extra tin or pack of rice, pasta or oats each time, a few bottles of water, and a camping stove if you do not have one.
4. Then: build towards a week, store water, and practise a night without electricity. It is the quickest way to find the gaps.

The point#

Be Ready is not a secret warning, and it is not nothing either. It is a cheap, sensible insurance policy that the government has finally decided to say out loud, wrapped in geopolitical language that raises more questions than it answers. The three-day figure is the realistic floor, not the ceiling. The expensive questions about grid resilience, water, fuel, food supply and defence belong to the state, and we should keep asking them.

In the meantime, a few tins, a radio, some water and a camping stove used safely outdoors cost less than a weekly shop, and they might mean the difference between a miserable few days and a dangerous one. Prepared, not paranoid.

This is general information, not professional safety or medical advice. Always follow the guidance of the emergency services and your local resilience forum, and check manufacturer instructions for any stove, heater or appliance you use. Facts and quotes are as reported on 26 October 2026 and may change as the campaign develops.

Sources#

• Households encouraged to take small, simple steps to stay prepared in an emergency, Cabinet Office, 22 October 2026
• Be ready for emergencies and Power cuts, UK Government
• Every Briton should stockpile water and food supplies, government advises, The Guardian, 22 October 2026
• Streeting: Prepare for supply chain disruption from cyber or climate emergencies, BBC News
• 'Realistic and reassuring': UK public 'responding calmly' to Be Ready campaign, The Guardian, 23 October 2026
• The Doomsday preppers stockpiling food and essentials, Daily Mail, 23 October 2026
• Government must engage more with households, communities and industry to strengthen food supply chain resilience to shocks, National Audit Office, 4 September 2026
• National Risk Register 2025, Cabinet Office
• Be Ready, For What? Reading the Resilience Campaign, Cambridge Risk
• This prepper campaign is blaming the public for the elite's failures, spiked, 26 October 2026 (opinion)
• Food safety in a power cut, Food Standards Agency
• Carbon monoxide safety and Barbecue safety, London Fire Brigade
• Power cuts, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, and Camping and caravan safety, Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service