> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bullquill.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # UK Be Ready campaign: keep 3 days of food, water and cash - URL: https://bullquill.com/uk-be-ready-campaign-three-day-emergency-kit/ - Published: 2026-10-23T18:51:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T19:28:10.000Z - Description: Security Minister Dan Jarvis launched the guidance on 22 October. Prime Minister Andy Burnham says it is about sensible preparation, not panic buying. - Author: Rowan Ashby - Tags: World, Trending, United Kingdom, Be Ready Campaign, Dan Jarvis, Andy Burnham, Cabinet Office, #lang-en, #tr-uk-be-ready-campaign-three-day-emergency-kit ## Key takeaways - The UK government's new "Be Ready" campaign, published on 22 October 2026, asks households to keep enough supplies to manage for three days if essential services are disrupted. - The official checklist recommends 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, non-perishable food that needs no cooking or refrigeration, cash in mixed coins and notes, a battery or wind-up FM radio, a torch and medicines. - Ministers say the aim is preparedness, not panic. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on 23 October that "it's not about panic buying", and Defence Secretary Wes Streeting has said he wants people "alert but not alarmed". - The campaign site names severe weather and cyber attacks among possible causes of disruption, but it does not point to a specific imminent threat. The UK Be Ready campaign asks households to keep three days of supplies: bottled water (3 litres per person per day), food that needs no cooking, cash, a radio, a torch and medicines. Security Minister Dan Jarvis launched it on 22 October 2026. ## UK Be Ready campaign: what happened The guidance went live on a new GOV.UK campaign site, beready.campaign.gov.uk, on Thursday 22 October. Dan Jarvis, the Security Minister, promoted it on X at 14:45 UTC that day, writing that the "new guidance sets out simple steps households can take to be ready for everyday emergencies". According to The National, he also set out the campaign in a written ministerial statement to Parliament. The central message on the official site is short: "Being ready for 3 days helps you manage while support reaches those most in need." The site says it will not carry live information during an emergency, and it tells people to call 999 if anyone is in immediate danger. On Friday 23 October, Prime Minister Andy Burnham backed the advice at a wildfire resilience summit in Liverpool, according to Anadolu Agency. He said "unexpected events seem to be becoming more and more common" and described the goal as taking "sensible measures to have enough in the house to tide you over". He also rejected claims that the government had failed to prepare properly. IBTimes UK reported that the Cabinet Office describes the launch as the first stage of a three-year campaign, and that more than 500 charities and businesses have agreed to share the campaign materials. ## Gov.uk Be Ready checklist: what to keep at home The official checklist is published as a PDF on the campaign site. The table below summarises it. The government gives a quantity only for drinking water. Other items are listed without amounts. | Category | What the official checklist recommends | | ------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Water | Bottled water for 3 days: 3 litres per person per day for drinking (9 litres per person in total), plus extra for cooking and washing | | Food | Non-perishable food for 3 days with a long shelf life that needs no refrigeration or cooking, such as tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts | | Light and warmth | Torch with spare batteries (the guidance says torches are safer than candles), blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothing | | Information | Battery-powered or wind-up FM radio, charged power bank | | Money and documents | Cash in mixed coins and notes, bank cards, printed copies of ID and important documents, a written list of key phone numbers and medicines | | Health | First aid kit, essential medication; order repeat prescriptions early, "up to 5 working days before you need your medicine" | | Hygiene | Hand sanitiser, wet wipes, bathroom products | | Babies and pets | Ready-to-feed baby formula, nappies and wipes; pet food and bottled water for pets | Source: Be Ready checklist, GOV.UK campaign site, accessed 23 October 2026\. Food examples from IBTimes UK and Anadolu Agency reporting on the guidance. ### How the government suggests building a kit 1. Check what you already have in your cupboards. 2. Plan for your household's own needs, such as medical supplies, baby formula or pet food. 3. Add items gradually as part of normal shopping, not all at once. 4. Check the kit about every six months for expiry dates. 5. Talk to neighbours about what help you could share during an outage. People who rely on power for medical equipment, or who need extra help during a cut, are pointed to the Priority Services Register run by energy and water companies. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own resources, Ready Scotland and NI Direct. ## What we know and what we don't know yet ### What we know - The guidance is advice, not an order. No household is required to buy anything. - The campaign site says that "from severe weather to cyber attacks, emergencies can disrupt the services you rely on". Jarvis pointed to last winter's storms and this summer's wildfires as examples, according to The National. - According to IBTimes UK, Jarvis said: "Those who can follow this advice should follow this advice." - Jarvis said the three-day message brings the UK into line with European neighbours. IBTimes UK names France, Ireland and the Netherlands as countries with similar advice. ### What we don't know yet - Officials have not linked the campaign to any specific threat. The official site does not mention one. - Details of the later stages of the reported three-year campaign, and whether it will include printed leaflets for every household, have not been published. - It is not yet clear whether the campaign will lead to unusual demand in shops. No retailer had published figures as of 18:45 UTC on 23 October. ## Background The UK already offered general preparedness advice on GOV.UK before this launch. Be Ready gives that advice a clear three-day target and a single checklist. The National reported, citing Bloomberg, that Burnham had delayed the launch because he was worried it could seem too pessimistic early in his premiership. The campaign was first planned under his predecessor, Keir Starmer. The timing comes after a run of disruption. Storm Austen cut power to thousands of homes in South West England this week, and the Met Office has issued an [amber wind warning for Storm Boelo across Scotland](https://bullquill.com/storm-boelo-amber-wind-warning-scotland/). IBTimes UK also linked the guidance to a recent software flaw that took some government websites offline. Bullquill covered that flaw in its guide to the [PHP emergency security patches](https://bullquill.com/php-emergency-security-patches-what-to-do/). Retailers have warned before that advice like this can spark panic buying. Jim Bligh of the British Retail Consortium told a Commons committee that "panic buying is quite easy to generate, particularly if you tell people to buy a particular type of product", The National reported. That is why the checklist tells people to build supplies slowly. ## What it means For most households the cost and effort are small. The steps are: store a few days of water and tinned food, keep some cash, and make sure you have a radio and torch that work without mains power. The cash advice matters because card payments and cash machines can stop working during a power cut or system outage. For a household budget, a small cash reserve is one part of a wider [emergency fund](https://bullquill.com/how-to-build-an-emergency-fund/). The bigger shift is in tone. Like several European governments, the UK now tells citizens to plan for a short period without help, while stressing that no specific danger is expected. Ministers will be judged on whether the message makes people prepared without making them anxious, and on whether supermarket shelves stay full in the coming days. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the UK Be Ready campaign? Be Ready is a UK government campaign launched on 22 October 2026 that asks households to keep enough supplies to manage for three days if essential services such as power, water, phones or the internet are disrupted. ### What is on the gov.uk Be Ready checklist? Bottled water (3 litres per person per day for drinking), non-perishable food that needs no cooking, a torch with spare batteries, a battery or wind-up FM radio, a charged power bank, cash, copies of documents, a first aid kit, medicines, hygiene items, and supplies for babies and pets. ### How much water should I store for an emergency in the UK? The official guidance says 3 litres of drinking water per person per day, so 9 litres per person for three days, plus extra water for cooking and washing. ### Is the UK government warning of a specific threat? No specific threat has been named. The campaign site lists severe weather and cyber attacks as examples of what can disrupt services, and ministers have said people should be alert but not alarmed. ## Sources - [GOV.UK – Be Ready campaign](https://beready.campaign.gov.uk/?ref=bullquill.com) - [GOV.UK – Be ready for emergencies](https://beready.campaign.gov.uk/be-ready-for-emergencies?ref=bullquill.com) - [GOV.UK – Be Ready checklist (PDF)](https://beready.campaign.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/252/2026/10/Be-Ready-Checklist%5FEnglish.pdf?ref=bullquill.com) - [Dan Jarvis MP on X – launch post, 22 October 2026](https://x.com/DanJarvisMBE/status/2113280670449717707?ref=bullquill.com) - [Anadolu Agency – British premier urges UK households to stockpile water, food amid rising risks](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/british-premier-urges-uk-households-to-stockpile-water-food-amid-rising-risks/4098680?ref=bullquill.com) - [The National – UK government advises stockpiling water and food](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/23/uk-government-advises-stockpiling-water-and-food/?ref=bullquill.com) - [IBTimes UK – UK government emergency preparedness guidance](https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/uk-households-prepare-three-days-disruption-1827455?ref=bullquill.com) - [Priority Services Register](https://www.thepsr.co.uk/?ref=bullquill.com)