If you are searching for an emergency kit for elderly parents, the person you are worried about is probably not sitting next to you. They may well be fine. They have lived through power cuts before, and they will tell you so. What keeps you up is the other version: a winter storm, a dark house, a boiler that will not fire without electricity, and a landline that has gone quiet. This guide is for the person doing the worrying. It covers the kit, but mostly it covers the plan around it, because a box in a cupboard only helps if somebody has already thought about the first few hours.
Why does a power cut hit older people harder?
Cold, mainly. The government's power cut guidance is plain about who suffers first: "Older adults, babies and young children, and people with long-term health problems are most likely to become ill if they get too cold."
And a power cut takes out far more than the lights. Gas boilers and heat pumps stop working without electricity, the same page warns, and so does the home internet. A mobile can lose its signal too, if the local mast sits inside the affected area. For a parent who lives alone and relies on a landline, that can be every line to the outside world, gone in the same minute.
Water can follow. When the mains supply is interrupted, the government's water outage advice lists older adults among the people most at risk, alongside anyone with a long-term health condition.
None of this means panic. The same guidance opens by saying that "the UK has a resilient electricity system" and that most power cuts are short and local. The long ones are rarer, but they happen. After Storm Arwen in November 2021, Ofgem's review found that nearly 1 million homes in Britain lost power, with "nearly 4,000 homes having to cope in appalling conditions without power for over a week." A week is a long time to be cold, in the dark, and out of touch.
Start with the Priority Services Register
If you do one thing this week, make it this. The Priority Services Register is "a free service across England, Scotland and Wales that gives extra support to customers who may need it", including when the electricity, gas or water goes off. People can join for a range of reasons, among them:
- having a health condition or limited or reduced mobility
- being medically dependent on electricity, gas or water
- needing extra communication support because of a hearing or visual impairment
- having a cognitive condition that affects memory, understanding or decision-making
- needing support for a while after leaving hospital or after a bereavement
The register's own site says it only takes a few minutes to join, through the local electricity network operator, and that the details can be shared with the other utilities. The government's guidance describes each company keeping its own list, so the safe move is to register, then ring your parent's energy supplier and water company and check that they have them too. Do it together on your next visit. In Northern Ireland the equivalent is a Customer Care Register.
What does it get them? Depending on the company: extra updates during a power cut, support for anyone using medical equipment, and alternative water supplies if the taps stop. What it does not do is keep the lights on, or promise to switch theirs back on first. Ofgem's Arwen review also found that one network operator "did not directly contact vulnerable customers enrolled on its Priority Services Register (PSR) prior to Storm Arwen." That is no reason to skip the register. It is a reason not to make it the whole plan.
Will their phone, alarm or telecare still work in a power cut?
Ask the question now, while the lights are on, because the answer varies from home to home.
Start with the landline. Not every landline still works when the power goes, and the government's advice is that if theirs will not, the provider "might offer you a free solution (such as a back-up battery unit), for a minimum of one hour". Might, and one hour. Ring and find out what your parent's line actually does.
Personal alarms are the bigger worry. The government's advice for disabled people and carers warns that users of telecare devices "should be aware that their devices might not work without electricity or internet." So ring the alarm provider and ask three things: what happens to the pendant in a power cut, how long its battery lasts, and who gets told if it drops offline. Then follow the next line of that same guidance, which is the most useful sentence in it: "Make a plan with a neighbour or someone else you trust to check on you in an emergency situation if they haven't heard from you."
Keep a charged power bank and the right cable next to their mobile. If the phone shows no signal in an emergency, it is still worth dialling 999 or 112: the government notes that emergency calls roam onto any network that is available.
Medication and medical equipment in a power cut
This is the part of the plan that needs other people in it. The government's guidance is direct: "If you have specialist machines (such as electric wheelchairs, stairlifts or oxygen machines) or other vital equipment, make a plan with your care provider and/or clinical care teams now." Not on the night. Now.
For anything that runs on a battery, the government's kit list includes a backup battery for any medical equipment your parent relies on, kept charged, with a paper copy of the instructions alongside it. Hearing aids count: the same guidance suggests spare batteries for hearing and communication devices.
For medication, the advice is to have enough "to keep you going for several days", with a written list of what they take and where it is kept, ideally in a waterproof container such as a plastic food box. In the government's 2026 survey, 76% of people taking essential medicine had at least a week's supply at home (UK Public Survey of Risk Perception, Resilience and Preparedness 2026). Worth finding out which side of that your parent sits. If they are short, the conversation to have is with their GP or pharmacist, not with a blog.
What should an emergency plan for elderly parents include?
Less than you might think, written down on paper. The same survey found only 29% of people had important phone numbers written down on paper, and a dead mobile takes the rest with it. A one-page plan by the phone should cover:
- Numbers on paper: 105 to report a power cut in England, Scotland and Wales (03457 643643 in Northern Ireland), you, a neighbour, their GP and pharmacy, the alarm provider and their energy supplier.
- Who checks in, and when: a named person and a rule, such as "if the power has been off since the morning, I ring at lunchtime, and if I can't get through, the neighbour knocks".
- Their medication list and where the spare supply is.
- Where the kit is, somewhere they can reach in the dark without a step stool.
The government publishes a free, printable household emergency plan on its Prepare website, which is a good place to start. If you are the one they depend on, there is an emergency plan for carers to make as well. Your local council may be able to give you a carer's card, which, in the government's words, "can help the emergency services and others know that someone depends on you." The Prepare page also links to a guide and planning tool from Carers UK.
What goes in an emergency kit for an elderly person?
Begin with the government's household kit list, then adjust it for the person who will use it. A few changes make the biggest difference for an older parent:
- A torch they can find and use. The government prefers torches to candles, for good reason. Leave one by the bed and one by the kit, with spare batteries.
- A battery or wind-up radio, already tuned. Only 23% of people said they had one in the 2026 survey. Write the frequency of their local station on the plan.
- Warmth that needs no power: blankets, a hat, thick socks, an extra layer by the chair.
- Bottled water. The government advises buying sealed bottled water rather than filling containers, and cites a minimum of 2.5 to 3 litres per person per day for drinking. Bottles are heavy, so this is one to carry in for them.
- Food that needs no cooking, plus a tin opener their hands can manage, or ring-pull tins.
- Spare glasses, hearing aid batteries, and a basic first aid kit.
Keep it all in one place. A kit spread across three cupboards is a kit nobody can find by torchlight.
Is a ready-made box worth it, or should you build it yourself?
You can build it yourself, and the government says so: "Rather than buying all the items at once, you could just add to your emergency kit when you are able and build it up over time." Plenty of families do exactly that. Our guide to buying an emergency kit in the UK sets out what to look for either way.
The honest problem with building one for someone else is follow-through. You see your parent on a Sunday, the list has twenty items on it, and the radio never quite gets bought. Think of it the way you think of their home insurance. You hope they never claim on it. You still would not leave them without it.
That is where a ReadyHome box fits. We choose, source and pack the kit so it arrives complete. The Essential box is for 1-2 people, which suits a parent living alone or a couple, at £199 with free delivery. It includes a wind-up radio and torch, a phone power bank, a first aid kit and batteries, water purification, food and a tin opener, blankets, a hygiene kit and a printed household plan. It does not replace their own medication, or the bottled water the government recommends keeping as well.
A box is the easy part
The kit only works with the conversation that goes with it: where it lives, who rings whom, what happens to the alarm when the power goes. Have that conversation on a calm day, and the bad day gets a lot smaller.
If you would rather not source it item by item, choose a ReadyHome box for your parents, then take it round and go through the plan with them.