Keep the cold outside.

Start with the assumption that your home remains your primary shelter but normal heating may stop. Build one “warm-room” plan: choose a room you can close off, keep warm layers, blankets or sleeping bags there, add battery lighting, and have simple draught-control materials ready.

For cold weather, aim to keep the rooms you regularly use at around 18°C if you can, especially for older people, anyone with reduced mobility or people with heart or lung conditions. If the whole house cannot be heated, concentrate people and resources in one room.

Then add a basic repair layer: tarpaulin, strong tape, cord, work gloves and hand tools for temporary damage control. Finally, have a grab bag and evacuation plan in case the property itself becomes unsafe.

Create one warm zone rather than trying to maintain the whole house. Close internal doors, shut curtains at dusk, reduce obvious draughts and bring everyone’s bedding and warm clothing into the chosen room.

Wear several thin layers rather than relying on one bulky garment, including warm socks and a hat. If you can maintain heat, NHS and Met Office guidance recommends around 18°C in rooms you regularly use, particularly for older people, those with reduced mobility and people with relevant health conditions.

Eat and drink regularly and keep reasonably active if safe. Never use a hob, oven, barbecue or camping stove to heat the room. If anyone becomes unusually confused, very drowsy, clumsy or difficult to wake in severe cold, seek urgent medical help — cold exposure can become a medical emergency.

No. Never use a barbecue, camping stove or other outdoor fuel-burning appliance to heat an indoor room, garage, tent, conservatory or other enclosed space. These products can generate carbon monoxide, an odourless gas that can kill, as well as creating a major fire risk.

The same principle applies to using a gas hob or oven as a room heater. Use heating equipment only for the purpose and environment specified by the manufacturer.

For a power-cut plan, prioritise insulation over improvised combustion: warm layers, sleeping bags, blankets, closed doors, curtains and one occupied room. If you have an approved alternative heater, follow its ventilation and clearance requirements exactly and ensure appropriate smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms are working.

Stop heat escaping before trying to create more heat. Close internal doors to unused rooms, draw curtains at dusk, fit or improvise draught excluders around doors and avoid leaving external doors open unnecessarily.

Move people into one smaller room and bring in rugs, blankets and bedding. Do not block permanent ventilation required by fuel-burning appliances. If mains heating is available, aim for around 18°C in rooms you use regularly, particularly where vulnerable people are present.

For longer-term resilience, the biggest gains come from proper loft/wall insulation and well-sealed doors and windows. During a short outage, though, the immediate objective is simple: reduce the volume of space you are trying to keep comfortable and reduce the rate at which existing heat escapes.

Yes, but understand what they are good at. Foil emergency blankets are excellent because they are tiny, cheap and wind-resistant, and they can reduce heat loss by reflecting radiant heat and limiting airflow.

They are not a replacement for a proper blanket, warm clothing or sleeping bag. In cold conditions, use them as an additional outer layer over dry insulating clothing or bedding rather than assuming the foil itself provides thick insulation. They can also trap condensation, so check the person remains dry.

They are particularly useful in cars, day bags and grab bags where space matters. For sleeping at home through a winter heating failure, a decent sleeping bag or duvet is vastly more comfortable and should do most of the insulating work.

Yes. Even if you never camp, a sleeping bag is one of the most useful pieces of backup warmth you can own. It concentrates insulation around one person, works without electricity and can be moved easily to whichever room is warmest.

Choose by the manufacturer’s comfort rating, not the much lower “extreme” survival rating. The comfort rating should be below the coldest indoor temperature you realistically expect to face. Children need appropriately sized equipment rather than simply disappearing into an oversized adult bag.

For a household, one suitable sleeping bag per person creates a reliable overnight layer even if the central heating is unavailable. Store them dry and uncompressed where possible, and test them before winter so you know everyone can get warm comfortably.

First, check whether your property is at risk and sign up for official flood warnings if relevant. Keep important documents, medicines, chargers and irreplaceable items in waterproof containers above likely flood level, not on a garage or basement floor.

Know how to turn off water, gas and electricity. If flooding is imminent, turn supplies off only if it is safe to do so; never touch an electrical switch while standing in water. Move people, pets and valuables to higher ground and follow emergency-service instructions.

Do not drive or walk into moving floodwater simply because it looks shallow. For the property itself, consider suitable flood barriers, non-return valves or air-brick covers if your risk justifies them. A written flood plan is far more useful than trying to invent one as water approaches the door.

Use the car as a small independent shelter kit. UK Government preparedness guidance suggests keeping items such as a torch, in-car phone charger, warm clothes and blankets, high-visibility clothing, jump leads, food and drink, and a shovel for snow.

Add a basic first-aid kit and footwear suitable for walking if the car becomes stranded. In colder months, keep a hat and gloves in the vehicle rather than assuming you will be wearing them on every journey.

Do not rely on running the engine indefinitely for warmth, especially where exhaust could be obstructed or the vehicle is in an enclosed area. Before longer winter journeys, check weather warnings, fuel/charge level and tell someone your route if conditions are poor.

For most UK households, no — a tent is not a first-priority home preparedness purchase. If your home is structurally safe, proper bedding, warm clothing, lighting, water, food and basic repair materials will usually be more useful.

A compact tarp is often a more versatile emergency item because it can provide temporary weather protection, cover damaged property or supplement a shelter without taking much space.

A tent becomes more relevant if you regularly travel in remote areas, camp, keep a vehicle-based emergency setup or have a realistic evacuation scenario where formal shelter may not be immediately available. Buy it for a defined use case, not because “survival kit” lists say every household needs one.