A 72-hour winter home kit is not a bunker. It is the ordinary household backup that keeps people warm, informed, watered, fed and safe while a storm, power cut, boiler failure, burst main or short local disruption is sorted.
For most UK homes, the first three days are about simple continuity: phones charged, one room warm enough, safe light, drinking water, food that does not need much cooking, medicines within reach and a way to hear official updates if broadband and mobile signal become unreliable.
Start with the people in the house
Before buying anything, list who the kit is for. A young family, an older person living alone, a household with pets, someone with mobility needs and a flat with electric-only cooking all need slightly different priorities.
Write down essential medicines, spare glasses, hearing-aid batteries, baby formula, pet food, continence supplies and any powered medical equipment. Store that note with the kit, along with paper phone numbers and your electricity network operator's power-cut number, 105.
Power and communication
Keep at least one large power bank charged for phones, and add the cables people actually use. A smaller power bank in a coat pocket is useful for commuting, but the home kit should have enough capacity to recharge a phone several times.
A wind-up or battery emergency radio is still worth owning. When the router is off and mobile masts are running on backup batteries, local radio can be the simplest way to hear weather warnings, flood updates, school closures and power-restoration estimates.
A portable power station is optional, not a first purchase. It can help with laptops, small medical devices or a longer outage, but it is not a sensible way to run electric heaters, kettles or ovens. Check the wattage of anything you intend to plug in before relying on it.
Safe lighting
Use LED light before candles. A head torch lets you use both hands at a fuse box, medicine drawer or front door, while a lantern gives calmer room light for children, older relatives and anyone moving around in the dark.
Keep spare batteries or charging leads with the lights. Do not store your only torch in a shed, car boot or garage if the problem you are planning for is a dark winter night.
Warmth and one-room living
The realistic winter plan is one warm room, not a warm house. Choose a small room with curtains, seating and space for a lantern. Close doors, block obvious draughts without covering vents, and move people into the room before the whole home cools down.
Useful kit includes warm base layers, hats, thick socks, blankets, sleeping bags, sleeping mats for cold floors and hand warmers. For vulnerable people, warmth is a welfare issue rather than a comfort extra, so check them early and often.
Water for three days
Store drinking water before a cold snap or storm, especially if your home relies on pumped water, you live in a flat, or local pipes are prone to freezing or bursting. A simple starting point is enough drinking water for each person for three days, plus extra for babies, pets, medicines and basic hygiene.
Use clean bottles or food-grade water carriers, rotate stored water, and keep water purification tablets as a backup rather than your main plan. If a boil-water notice is issued, follow local instructions; tablets are useful, but they do not replace official advice for every contamination problem.
Food and hot drinks
Choose food people will actually eat when tired: tinned meals, soup, crackers, oats, nut butter, cereal bars, baby food if needed and easy snacks. Keep a manual can opener with the food.
A vacuum flask is a safe first step for hot drinks because you can fill it before bad weather arrives. A camping stove can boil water and cook simple meals during a longer outage, but it must be used outdoors only, never in a kitchen, porch, garage, tent or doorway.
First aid, hygiene and home safety
Keep a stocked first-aid kit, nitrile gloves, hand sanitiser, wet wipes, bin bags, toilet roll and any household-specific medical supplies together. Small cuts, burns and stomach bugs are harder to manage when the lights are out and water is limited.
Winter also increases fire and carbon-monoxide risk. Test smoke alarms and carbon-monoxide alarms, keep a fire blanket in the kitchen, and do not improvise indoor heating with barbecues, camping stoves, charcoal, outdoor heaters or generators.
Store it so someone else can find it
The kit should live where it can be reached in the dark: a cupboard, under-stairs box or labelled crate. Split heavy water from lighter gear if needed, but keep the paper checklist, torch and radio obvious.
Once a season, recharge power banks, test lights and alarms, check food dates, replace used medicines and make sure the children, housemates or carers know where the kit is. A winter home kit only works if it is boringly easy to use.
The quick version
For a simple 72-hour winter kit, start with: power bank and cables, head torch, LED lantern, emergency radio, warm layers, blankets or sleeping bags, hand warmers, drinking water, water carriers, ready-to-eat food, manual can opener, first-aid kit, hygiene supplies, medicines, smoke alarm, carbon-monoxide alarm and a written contact plan.
