It always pays to be prepared for winter. There are some simple steps you can take to prepare yourself, families, communities, home or business
You can do this by keeping informed, being ready at home, on the road and at work: and thinking of others in your community.
A good example of how communities supported each other was during Storm Arwen. Parts of the country lost power for up to a week, so it’s worth taking sensible precautions now:
- Have a stock of non-perishable, easily prepared food that doesn’t need cooking.
- Have some bottled water – in some places, mains water will stop working if there’s no power.
- Have enough warm clothes – lots of thinner layers are best - and bedding.
- Have LED torches or LED camping lanterns and spare batteries – much safer than candles.
- Have an old-fashioned plug-in, landline phone and a list of family members’ landline numbers if they still have them – mobile networks soon fail in a power outage.
- Car readiness Make time for winter: advice to motorists - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)/ 6 simple checks to prepare your vehicle for winter - Met Office / Prepare a winter kit for your car - Met Office.
- Check to see if you are in a Check the long term flood risk for an area in England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and sign up for flood alerts Sign up for flood warnings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Consider registering with utility companies’ priority registers if you consider yourself vulnerable:
- UK Power Networks: Priority Services | UK Power Networks.
- Anglian Water: Priority services (anglianwater.co.uk).
- Cadent Gas: Priority Services Register (PSR) | Cadent (cadentgas.com).
Community Preparedness
- If you have a community emergency plan – review it thinking about winter risks and whether there is anything that could be added.
- If you would like to create your own community resilience plan, you can find a template to get your started at: Community Resilience – Norfolk Resilience Forum (norfolkprepared.gov.uk).
- Speak to your borough council emergency planning officer for further advice and guidance. Resources and supporting information – Norfolk Resilience Forum (norfolkprepared.gov.uk).
More details from King’s Lynn & West Norfolk here.
Email: emergency.planning@west-norfolk.gov.uk
If it happens:
- Look after and support relatives and neighbours – it is important and can save lives.
- You can go to the live power cut map via the UK Power Networks website for information and updates. If the Internet is down, dial 105 for updates from UK Power Networks.
- Listen to BBC Radio Norfolk on a battery or car radio, for initial updates (95.1 FM in east Norfolk, 95.6 FM in north Norfolk and 104.4 FM in west Norfolk).
- If BBC Radio Norfolk is not working, BBC Radio 2 (88-91 FM) or BBC Radio 4 (92-95FM or 103-105 FM) should still be running.
- Beware of carbon monoxide – never bring a barbecue indoors, don’t use gas cookers for heating, open a window if you are using a gas camping stove and don’t leave it unattended.
- Check for service disruptions Emergency closures information for Norfolk - Norfolk County Council.
- Monitor trusted social media outlets.
- One Norfolk flood number for non-emergency situations. 0344 800 8013.
- Burst water main – Report a leak (anglianwater.co.uk).
Other resources
- Norfolk prepared website – Low temperatures and snow – Norfolk Resilience Forum (norfolkprepared.gov.uk)
- Met Office – weather ready WeatherReady - Met Office
- UK power networks – emergency power cuts Emergency power cuts (ukpowernetworks.co.uk)