Resources
Help when something goes wrong.
Official contacts and links for power cuts, gas emergencies, water supply problems and severe weather, with the parts of the UK each one covers.
When food or bills are difficult
Everyday essentials come first. Find free steps and food or living-cost support for your nation.
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Could you or someone at home need extra support?
The Priority Services Register is a free, confidential service for people who may need extra help with their energy or water supply, including during a power cut or water interruption. Northern Ireland offers similar help through Customer Care Registers.
You might benefit if you or someone at home is older, has a disability or health need, needs sight, hearing, language or communication support, is pregnant or has young children, or is recovering from a hospital stay or injury. Needs can be ongoing or temporary. These are examples to discuss with your provider, not an eligibility test, and the rules differ across the UK.
Depending on your provider, help can include accessible communication, notice of planned outages where possible, a nominated contact or password, and extra support in an emergency.
- Contact your energy supplier or network and your water company and ask to register; it is free. If your gas and electricity suppliers differ, contact each one.
- Ask which organisations they can share your registration with, and confirm with each relevant provider rather than assuming everyone is registered.
- Re-register if you switch supplier, and update your details after moving or a change in needs.
Registration does not promise priority restoration or an uninterrupted supply. If you need support urgently, contact your provider directly rather than waiting for a form to be processed.
Find who serves your home
These are official external websites; you enter your postcode there, not on How Ready? UK. Scottish Water serves Scotland, and NIE Networks and Northern Ireland Water serve Northern Ireland.
Registering with your providers
- Priority Services Register: energy (Great Britain, Ofgem) (opens in a new tab)
- Water company special assistance (England and Wales, Ofwat) (opens in a new tab)
- Additional support (Scottish Water: register online or call 0800 0778 778) (opens in a new tab)
- Customer Care Registers (Northern Ireland) (opens in a new tab)
Power cuts
Power cut helpline
England, Scotland and Wales
105Free to call
NIE Networks
Northern Ireland
- Your local electricity network maintains the cables and handles outages in your area. Your supplier handles your account and billing.
- If the problem seems to be inside your home only, follow your network's guidance before touching anything.
- Find your local electricity network (Great Britain) (opens in a new tab)
- Report a power cut (Great Britain) (opens in a new tab)
- Report a power cut (Northern Ireland) (opens in a new tab)
- Live outage map (Northern Ireland) (opens in a new tab)
- Power cut safety advice (Northern Ireland) (opens in a new tab)
Gas
If you smell gas or suspect a leak. Avoid flames and do not operate electrical switches. Move to a safe place and call the gas emergency service.
National Gas Emergency Service
England, Scotland and Wales
0800 111 999Free to call, day or night
Gas Emergency Service
Northern Ireland
0800 002 001Free to call, day or night
- For ordinary supply, account or prepayment questions, contact your gas supplier. For boiler or appliance faults, use a qualified engineer.
- These are mains-gas emergency contacts. For LPG or heating oil, follow your fuel supplier's emergency instructions and use its emergency contact.
Water supply
In England and Wales, contact your local water company about supply interruptions and follow its incident instructions.
Scottish Water
Scotland
Northern Ireland Water
Northern Ireland
- In England and Wales your water and wastewater providers can differ; the official finder shows both.
- Check your provider's service updates, report the problem if needed, and follow any specific instructions given about drinking water. Do not assume boiling makes unsafe water safe; follow the instructions for your incident.
- Private water supplies: use your own supply arrangements or contact your local council.
Severe weather and flooding
- The Northern Ireland link gives flood risk and advice rather than live warnings.
- Check official warnings for your area and follow local instructions.
- UK weather warnings (Met Office) (opens in a new tab)
- Check for flooding (England) (opens in a new tab)
- Flooding (Scotland, SEPA) (opens in a new tab)
- Flooding (Wales, Natural Resources Wales) (opens in a new tab)
- Flood risk and advice (Northern Ireland) (opens in a new tab)
- How national flooding services fit together (GOV.UK) (opens in a new tab)
Official sources
Sources checked 24 October 2026.
Current incident updates are published on the linked official websites. This page does not show live incident information.