Communications when networks fail

What fails

In a power cut the home internet stops, and so do gas ovens, boilers and heat pumps. A mobile phone may stop working if the local mast is in the affected area.

A phone and broadband outage can be caused by severe weather, a power cut or a fault at the provider. It might affect only certain networks or all of them, and some people can lose service while neighbours do not. In the most serious case the mobile, the landline and the broadband are all down at once. Most outages are short or local, but after severe weather disruption can last for days.

The analogue landline is being replaced by a digital network. Be Ready says that a vulnerable customer, for example a telecare user, must be given a free back-up battery by the provider so that the landline works for at least an hour in a power cut. Anyone whose only route to 999 is a landline is asked to find out from the provider whether it will work without mains power.

What may still work

A corded landline might still work in a power cut. The mobile network may keep going for a time in areas with backup power. If the mobile network is down but the Wi-Fi is up, calls over Wi-Fi may still connect, and messaging may work when calls do not.

For an emergency, try both a mobile and a landline, because if one is disrupted the other may be available, and emergency calls from a mobile connect to any available network. If 999 still cannot be reached and it is safe to do so, go to the nearest police station, fire station, ambulance station or hospital.

Radio keeps working. Be Ready asks every home to keep a battery or wind-up radio with spare batteries and to try both FM and digital.

Written numbers

Keep a paper copy of important numbers: family, neighbours, the doctor and the utilities. Write down 105, the number to report a power cut, free in England, Scotland and Wales; the Be Ready page gives a separate number for Northern Ireland. Write down the frequencies of the radio stations you use. Keep these notes with the torch and the radio, somewhere easy to find in the dark, along with a small amount of cash.

Meeting points

Be Ready asks families to agree a meeting point in case they cannot contact each other for a period: a place that is easy to find and open to the public, or a family member's home.

The Hampshire and Isle of Wight community plan template asks the emergency coordinators to agree two meeting locations, because the first might be affected by the emergency or have no water, power or phones. Being together in person is usually the easiest way to work, but only if it is safe.

Reaching the community

The same template tells a community group not to rely on online methods alone. Not everyone uses them, and in a power cut people cannot charge their devices and signal may be limited. Its offline suggestions are a volunteer network to knock on doors along each road or block of flats, telephone trees, someone at the school gate at start or home time to pass information to parents, and a place such as a community centre or church with flip charts, pens and boards where coordinators can write up messages. Whatever the channel, tell people what is known, what the group is doing, what they should do, and when you will next be in touch.