When you start reading emergency advice, it’s surprisingly easy to end up mentally buying a generator, twenty tins of something nobody likes and a shed to put it all in.
I need something rather more realistic. Two children, cats, a budget that already has plenty to do, and a brain that would appreciate fewer jobs, thank you very much.
But there is another reason this matters deeply to me.
My daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in September 2025. She is also autistic. It has affected us all so much as a family, and there is a lot to carry, practically and emotionally.
She is so brave. We love her so much, and we are incredibly proud of her for what she endures every single day. I wish she didn’t have to be brave about any of it. I wish we could take the difficult bits away. What we can do is love her, support her and make sure we have plans that put her needs first.
That changes how I think about a power cut. Keeping the lights on is one thing. Keeping diabetes care manageable, food familiar and everyone feeling safe is quite another.
This is the approach I want for our home: a few sensible preparations that help us manage at least three days of disruption, built up gradually from things we already use.
This is a UK household-preparation guide, with emergency numbers for England, Scotland and Wales. Medical arrangements must follow your child’s own diabetes team and the instructions for their medicines and equipment.
Start with the medical things
For us, diabetes supplies come before everything else. A cupboard full of food is little comfort if we cannot find the glucose meter in the dark.
I would keep the supplies that do not require refrigeration together in a clearly labelled, portable bag:
- A blood glucose meter, test strips, lancets and spare batteries, even if a sensor is normally used.
- Ketone-testing equipment and in-date strips.
- Usual hypo treatments, including spare glucose drinks, plus familiar follow-on snacks as advised by the diabetes team.
- Prescribed glucagon, in date and stored according to its instructions.
- Spare needles, pens and the pump or sensor consumables relevant to the child’s care.
- Paper copies of current treatment instructions, sick-day rules, prescriptions and contact numbers.
If a child uses an insulin pump, ask their paediatric diabetes team for a written backup injection plan and the necessary prescribed supplies. The insulin types, doses and arrangements for restarting a pump need to come from that team. Do not try to work them out during an outage.
The NHS insulin pump guidance explains the importance of backup insulin delivery and ketone-testing supplies. For a child, their own paediatric plan is the one to follow.
Keep insulin available and continue treatment according to the agreed plan. If supplies, equipment or your child’s condition become a concern, seek help promptly rather than waiting for the electricity to return.
What about insulin when the fridge stops?
A power cut does not automatically make insulin unusable.
Unopened insulin normally needs refrigeration. Many products can be kept at room temperature for a specified time, but the temperature limits and permitted duration vary by product and how it is being used. Check the exact insulin leaflet with a pharmacist or diabetes team in advance and write down the advice.
The NHS guidance on rapid-acting insulin storage also warns against freezing insulin or letting it become too hot. If using a cool bag, keep insulin away from direct contact with frozen packs.
I would also find out exactly how any sensor, receiver, pump and linked phone behave without internet. Which functions still work locally? Does remote sharing stop? What needs charging? Test the correct charging cables and keep the manual testing kit available.
Store drinking water a little at a time
Current UK Be Ready power-cut guidance recommends three days of bottled water, allowing 3 litres per person per day.
For our family of four, that means:
4 people × 3 days × 3 litres = 36 litres.
That is eighteen 2-litre bottles. It is a drinking-water starting point; pets, cooking and washing need extra.
I would add a bottle or two to ordinary shopping when possible, store them somewhere cool and away from sunlight, and rotate them by their dates. Split the weight between sensible storage spots rather than piling heavy bottles onto one shelf.
A power cut can also affect mains water. Bottled drinking water gives us something dependable without having to improvise a rainwater-treatment system while looking after the children.
Keep three days of food everyone will actually eat
An emergency is a poor time to discover that your children will not eat your emergency food.
Familiar textures, tastes and brands may matter particularly for autistic children. Choose around the person you are feeding, rather than someone else’s idea of a perfect cupboard.
My starting list would be:
- Familiar crackers, oatcakes, wraps or cereals.
- Small cartons of long-life milk, used promptly once opened if refrigeration is unavailable.
- Ready-to-eat tins or pouches the family already likes; check the label to make sure heating is optional.
- Tinned fruit, fruit pots and familiar snack bars.
- A usual spread, such as peanut butter if suitable for the household.
- A manual tin opener.
- Cat food for at least three days, plus some spare litter.
Plan enough food for meals and snacks, including carbohydrates, rather than relying on a few protein bars. For diabetes care, keep the packaging or write down carbohydrate information for the foods you have chosen.
The British Red Cross emergency-kit guide recommends ready-to-eat food and building supplies gradually. I like the idea of a small reserve of things we regularly replace: fewer forgotten tins and less wasted money.
Make light and charging easy to find
A head torch would be particularly useful for me. It leaves both hands free for testing, finding supplies and all the other jobs that continue after the lights go out.
A practical setup would include:
- A head torch for the adult doing medical care.
- A battery lantern for the main room.
- Torches within easy reach of the beds.
- Spare batteries that fit the equipment.
- Charged power banks and the right cables.
Keep one power bank reserved for essential medical devices or the phone used for diabetes care. Check that the devices actually accept charging from it, and test how much useful backup it provides.
Use a separate torch rather than draining the phone battery for light. Battery lights are also safer than candles, especially with children and cats around.
Prepare one comfortable room
If the heating stops, I would concentrate on the room that stays warmest and is easiest for everyone to use.
Have blankets, duvets, warm layers, socks and slippers ready. Close curtains and the doors to unused rooms to help retain heat. Most gas central-heating systems still need electricity for their controls and pump, so having gas does not mean the heating will work.
Never bring a barbecue, generator or outdoor camping stove indoors, including into a garage or enclosed porch. Never use an oven to heat the house. Follow appliance safety instructions and keep smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms working.
For the children, I would make a small lights-out basket with familiar snacks, comfort items, colouring, cards and something downloaded to watch while battery capacity allows.
Explain the plan calmly beforehand: “Sometimes the electricity stops. These are our lights, and this is where we’ll sit together.” Let children explore the torches and choose familiar activities while everything is normal. Adapt this to what reassures your own child; darkness, unexpected sounds and changed routines affect people differently.
Have an information plan that works offline
A charged phone is useful, but mobile networks may also be disrupted. Digital landlines and broadband need power, and a small backup battery should not be assumed to cover three days.
Ofcom’s advice on staying connected explains the limits and the support available for people who rely on their landline.
Keep a battery radio, spare batteries and the frequencies of useful stations written down. Add one paper contact sheet with:
- 105: electricity power cuts in England, Scotland and Wales.
- 111: urgent NHS medical advice where available; keep your local out-of-hours number too.
- 999: an immediate emergency.
- Diabetes-team and equipment-support numbers.
- Your address, important medication details and trusted family contacts.
Agree with someone nearby how you will check on each other if phones fail. Ask beforehand whether you could go to them if their power remains on and yours does not. A little cash for essentials may also help if card payments fail.
Sign up for extra support
Diabetes UK confirms that people with diabetes are eligible for the Priority Services Register.
Contact your energy supplier and electricity network, explain the household’s medical needs, and check that the relevant details are recorded. This may help with outage information and additional support. It does not guarantee a continuous electricity supply or immediate restoration.
You can also ask your water company about its priority support.
Keep the fridge closed—and know its limits
According to government food-safety guidance, an unopened fridge should stay cold for around four hours. A full freezer may keep food frozen for about 48 hours; a half-full one around 24 hours. These are estimates.
A fridge thermometer helps you judge the temperature. Food that requires refrigeration and has been at 8°C or above for four hours should be discarded. Do not rely on smell to establish whether it is safe.
Keep fridge and freezer doors closed as much as possible. Insulin needs its own product-specific storage assessment rather than being judged by the rules for food.
Include leaving in the plan
Preparing for three days does not mean promising to stay at home whatever happens.
If we cannot safely manage diabetes care, the house becomes too cold or someone is becoming unwell, the plan needs to change. Know where you could go, how you would get there if travel is safe, and what you would take.
Keep the medical bag easy to carry. Put cat carriers somewhere accessible and consider where the cats could go too.
I would much rather move everyone somewhere safe early than feel obliged to prove we can stick it out.
The first small jobs
You do not need to buy everything this week. Start with what you already own:
- ☐ Gather medical supplies and check expiry dates.
- ☐ Confirm the written diabetes backup plan and insulin-storage advice.
- ☐ Find the torches, batteries, chargers and power banks; test them.
- ☐ Write the emergency contact sheet.
- ☐ Check Priority Services Register details.
- ☐ Choose a warm room and a possible place to go.
- ☐ Start adding drinking water and familiar ready-to-eat food.
- ☐ Include the cats’ food, water and carriers.
Put a short list inside the cupboard door showing where everything lives. The kit only helps if another adult can find it as easily as you can.
For our family, the point is to make a difficult few days more manageable. My daughter already deals with so much, every day. Anything we can organise beforehand to make her care easier, and help both children feel safer, is worth doing—one small job at a time.
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