How to stay informed when the power or signal is down
In a serious disruption, good information is as valuable as any supply. Two simple things cover it, and neither costs much.
Emergency Alerts on your phone
The UK has an official public warning system called Emergency Alerts. In a life-threatening situation in your area, such as severe flooding, the government can send a loud alert and a message to mobile phones nearby. It is free, there is no app and no sign-up, and most phones already have it switched on. It is worth checking it is on: look for “Emergency alerts” in your phone’s settings.
A radio for when the signal is down
Phone networks can fail or get overwhelmed in a big emergency, so it helps to have a way to hear information that does not depend on them. A battery or wind-up radio is the classic answer. Keep one with spare batteries.
There is no single “emergency frequency” in the UK that the public are told to tune to. The advice is simply to tune to local and national radio for information. It is worth noting down the frequencies of your local BBC and commercial stations in advance, so you are not hunting for them in the dark. If one station is off air, search across the FM and DAB bands for one that is still broadcasting.
In short
Turn on Emergency Alerts today, and keep a battery or wind-up radio with some spare batteries. That is most of staying informed sorted, whatever happens to the power or the phone network.