What to do in a power cut (UK): the first hour, the first night, day three

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The first five minutes

Check it isn’t just you. Look at the fuse box. If a switch has tripped, that’s your problem and possibly your toaster’s. If the street lights and the neighbours are dark too, it’s a power cut.
Report it on 105 or your network’s website. Don’t assume someone else has. Everyone assumes that.
Switch off anything hot. Hob, oven, iron, hair straighteners, electric heaters. You do not want them coming back on at 3am without you.
Leave one light switched on, so you know when it’s back.
Get the torches. Not the candles.

Put phones on low power mode and stop scrolling. You’re now rationing.
Keep the fridge and freezer shut. A closed fridge holds for about 4 hours, a full freezer for about 48. More in the fridge and freezer guide.
If the heating’s gone off, pick one room, shut the doors and get the blankets out before the house cools, not after.
Knock on the door of anyone nearby who’s elderly, unwell or on their own. Take a torch for them. This is the bit that matters.

Eat from the fridge first, then the cupboard. Leave the freezer alone.
Tune the battery radio to your local BBC station for updates. Your network’s website and 105 will give an estimated time, which is a guess, but an informed one.
If you’re cooking on a camping stove, that happens outdoors.
A gas boiler won’t run, but a gas hob usually lights with a match.

Everyone sleeps in fewer rooms, in more layers, with a hot water bottle filled from the flask.
At the 4-hour mark the fridge needs attention, and at 24 to 48 hours so does the freezer.
If anyone in the house is vulnerable, cold or reliant on powered equipment, ring 105 again and say so. Networks run welfare support in long cuts, including hot food and somewhere warm.
If the cut is widespread, mobile signal may fade as masts run down. That’s what the radio is for.

Wait a minute before switching everything on. Then check the freezer, reset the clocks and the heating timer, and put the kit back on charge tonight, while you still care.
Make a note of when it went off and when it returned. If you were off for more than 12 hours in normal weather, you’re usually owed a payment automatically. The figures are on the power cut page.