Forget three days: why experts say households should stockpile two weeks of emergency supplies

The British government wants every household to keep three days of food and water at home. Now a leading disaster expert says that is not enough — and the country’s own defence secretary has revealed he is already stocking up.

Professor Ilan Kelman, a professor of disasters and climate at University College London, told the Daily Mail that families should aim for two weeks of emergency supplies rather than three days, because government help can take a long time to arrive in a serious crisis. His advice, reported on Sunday, 1 November, came a day after Defence Secretary Wes Streeting revealed he had begun stockpiling food and water himself. The two men agree on the main point — prepare now, while shops are open — but disagree on how much is enough.

At a glance

What happened: The UK government launched its “Be Ready” campaign on Thursday, 22 October, asking households to keep 72 hours of food and water at home. On Saturday, 31 October, Defence Secretary Wes Streeting revealed he had been stockpiling supplies for weeks, and on Sunday, 1 November, Professor Ilan Kelman said two weeks would be far better than three days.

Why it matters: Governments in Britain, Japan, France and several other countries are urging households to prepare at the same time. The advice only works if people act before a crisis, not during one.

What happens next: Japan’s disaster management minister is due to issue a fresh call for households to prepare on Monday, 2 November, when the country’s new disaster management agency launches.

What the government is asking for

The “Be Ready” campaign was launched by the Cabinet Office on Thursday, 22 October. Its core message is simple: every household should be able to look after itself for at least 72 hours without outside help. The campaign covers emergencies from severe weather to a cyberattack that could knock out power, payments or supply chains.

The official checklist is deliberately basic. Households are advised to keep three litres of bottled drinking water per person per day — nine litres per person for three days — plus extra water for cooking and washing if possible. Food should be non-perishable and need no cooking or refrigeration: tinned meat, fish or vegetables, dried fruit and nuts. A torch with spare batteries, a first aid kit and a wind-up radio are also on the list, along with copies of important documents and enough medicine for a few days.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis, who launched the campaign, called it a simple step to raise the country’s ability to cope with a crisis. Ministers have been consistent: be “alert but not alarmed”. The advice is not a response to any single piece of intelligence, but common sense for a country that depends on electricity, mobile networks and just-in-time supermarket deliveries.

Britain is especially concerned about a Russian cyberattack paralysing payment systems or breaking down supply chains: if card payments stop working, most people cannot buy food at all. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has backed the message. “I do like my beans, so I have plenty of those in the cupboard, and soup,” he said.

The defence secretary’s own stockpile

The campaign moved from government advice to personal example on Saturday, 31 October, when Wes Streeting told the Times that he had started stockpiling food and water weeks ago. He said he keeps bottled water, a first aid kit and a battery-powered torch on standby, and has been setting aside baked beans, sweetcorn, red kidney beans, tuna, protein bars and nuts.

Streeting said he started putting supplies aside because he wanted to “lead by example”. “I’m glad that people are beginning to think about their own household resilience,” he told the newspaper.

His remarks came as he talked up the threats facing Britain and said his department had already begun increasing spending in response. Streeting has warned that Russia and other hostile states could acquire the military capacity to launch an attack by 2030, and that Britain has to stay ahead of them. He told the Times he was determined the UK should be able to deter its adversaries and “should deterrence fail, to be ready to defeat them”, adding that any additional spending must be done carefully: “Spending more money badly is not virtuous.”

Streeting spoke after Chancellor John Healey said he wanted defence spending to reach 3% of GDP by 2030 and 3.5% by 2035. Announcing his first budget on Wednesday, 28 October, Healey said he was now fully funding the defence investment plan.

Why three days may not be enough

Kelman’s argument is not that the government’s advice is wrong, but that it is incomplete. Three days of supplies assumes help arrives quickly. In a widespread power outage, a terrorist attack or a nuclear emergency, government assistance can take considerable time to reach households.

“For those who can afford it, stockpiling at least two weeks of supplies is far better than preparing for three days, because it allows households to prepare for a wider range of crises,” Kelman said in an interview reported by the Daily Mail on Sunday, 1 November. His 14-day recommendation draws on guidance from the American Red Cross, the government of New South Wales in Australia and the Washington State Emergency Management Division.

The logic is straightforward: a household that can feed itself for two weeks does not need to join queues, compete for scarce supplies or rely on emergency services in the first days of a crisis, leaving those services free to help the people who need them most. Kelman is not alone in going further than the official advice. Sam Havelock, a former SEAL Team commander, recommended in an interview on 13 October that households keep at least two weeks of food, water, fuel and prescription medicines at home, with 30 days of supplies preferred for households with enough storage space and money. He also suggested keeping a month’s cash in small bills, split between two places, in case electronic payments stopped working.

The gap between three days and two weeks matters most for people with the least room to cope. Professor Tim Lang, a food policy expert, told the Guardian that one in seven UK households with children already suffers from food insecurity, and warned that if people go hungry, civil unrest might follow. He criticised the government’s advice as “minimal” and called on the state to “protect us more” and provide “specific” instructions. “You’ve got to be thinking, no cooking facilities, plus maybe no water, plus the internet has gone down,” he said.

What to stockpile: the lists

The lists circulating since the campaign launched agree on the basics, even when they disagree on quantities. Water comes first. The recommendation is three litres of drinking water per person per day, so a family of four needs 36 litres for three days — and 168 litres for two weeks. That is a lot of bottles, which is why experts suggest filling the bath and keeping water purification tablets as a backup.

Food should be things the family already eats, with a long shelf life, that need little or no cooking and can be stored at room temperature. The items recommended by Kelman and emergency planning officials include canned meat, fish, fruit and vegetables, dried pasta, rice, cereal, crackers and nuts. Tea, coffee, sugar, peanut butter, canned soup, baked beans and high-calorie snacks were also cited, because they can be eaten without cooking.

A longer list published on 29 October runs to 15 categories, adding dried proteins such as lentils and nuts, cured meats, powdered milk, spices and cooking oil, pet food for at least a month, and bathroom and kitchen supplies to the basics above.

Beyond food, households are advised to keep cash, blankets, a first aid kit, a flashlight with spare batteries and a wind-up FM radio, plus a can opener, everyday medicines, toilet paper and sleeping bags. Families with babies, pets or members with special dietary needs should set aside separate supplies for them.

The same advice around the world

Britain is not acting alone: governments around the world are urging households to stockpile at least three to 10 days of supplies. France is among the latest to reinforce its campaign — the regional government of Normandy urged residents on Tuesday, 27 October, to prepare before an emergency occurs. “Don’t wait for the emergency: prepare now!” it said.

Canada, Japan, Mexico and the Netherlands also recommend at least three days of supplies. Sweden and Norway advise about a week, while Germany recommends up to 10 days. In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security’s Ready.gov website has long encouraged Americans to keep enough emergency supplies to last several days.

Japan is strengthening its disaster preparedness at the same time, but for different reasons. Goshi Hosono, the minister in charge of disaster management, said he would issue an urgent request on Monday, 2 November, timed to the launch of the country’s new disaster management agency, calling on central government ministries, all prefectures and the public to step up disaster readiness. Appearing on a Fuji TV online programme, Hosono urged the public to prepare at least three days of supplies, and a week’s worth if possible.

The disasters Japan is preparing for include a megaquake along the Nankai Trough, an earthquake directly beneath the capital, massive quakes near the Kuril and Japan trenches, and an eruption of Mount Fuji. The common thread is that modern life depends on systems that can fail together: a cyberattack can stop payments, an earthquake can cut roads, a storm can knock out power — and in each case, the first people to suffer are those with nothing stored at home.

How to build a stockpile without panic buying

The worst way to prepare is to rush to the shops and clear the shelves. That was the lesson of the Covid-19 pandemic, when hoarders created shortages by shocking the just-in-time grocery system all at once. Preppers, by comparison, buy things a bit at a time, before any mass shock, according to the Start Prepping UK blog.

A practical approach is to add a few extra tins or packets to the normal weekly shop, choosing items the family already eats so nothing goes to waste. Rotate the stock, using the oldest items first and checking expiry dates. Keep the kit in one place the whole family knows about.

Cost is a real barrier, and the experts acknowledge it: Kelman’s two-week recommendation was explicitly aimed at “those who can afford it”. That is why Lang argues the state should do more than issue a checklist, and why he adds a second piece of advice: be prepared to share. “Yes, do store food, but be prepared to share to maintain social solidarity,” Lang told the Guardian. Start Prepping UK also suggests keeping some “quality of life boosters” in the stockpile — slightly more extravagant treats than the classic tinned fruit and vegetables — because food “can provide a powerful psychological anchor in even the craziest days”.

What this is not

None of this is a warning that an attack or disaster is about to happen. The government has been clear that the “Be Ready” campaign is general preparedness advice, not a response to a specific threat. Streeting himself framed his stockpiling as preparation for “everyday challenges” as much as for war, and ministers have repeated that people should be “alert but not alarmed”.

Nor is the advice new: the United States has recommended household emergency kits for years through Ready.gov. What is new is the scale and the timing — several governments pushing the same message at once, with senior politicians publicly following their own advice. Three days covers a short power cut or a few days of closed shops; two weeks covers a crisis that damages infrastructure. The honest answer from the experts is to prepare for as long as you can afford, starting with the basics, and to build up gradually.

Frequently asked questions

How much water should a household store?

The official UK guidance is three litres of drinking water per person per day, so nine litres per person for three days. For two weeks, that rises to 42 litres per person. Extra water is needed for cooking and washing.

What food should go in an emergency stockpile?

Choose non-perishable food the family already eats, that needs little or no cooking and stores at room temperature: tinned meat, fish and vegetables, rice, pasta, oats, dried fruit, nuts, peanut butter, baked beans and powdered milk. Add tea, coffee, sugar and high-calorie snacks.

Is the government warning of an imminent attack?

No. Ministers have said the “Be Ready” campaign is general preparedness advice, not a response to a specific threat or a single piece of intelligence. The advice covers severe weather, cyberattacks and disruption to power, payments or supply chains.

Why do some experts say two weeks instead of three days?

Professor Ilan Kelman of University College London argues that government help can take a long time to arrive in a widespread power outage, a terrorist attack or a nuclear emergency, and that three days assumes help comes quickly. His 14-day recommendation draws on guidance from the American Red Cross, the government of New South Wales and the Washington State Emergency Management Division.

What else should be in an emergency kit besides food and water?

A torch with spare batteries, a wind-up FM radio, a first aid kit, a can opener, cash, blankets, everyday medicines, toilet paper, surgical masks, rain gear and sleeping bags. Keep mobile phone chargers and copies of important documents with the kit, and make sure the whole family knows where it is kept.

Conclusion

The argument over three days versus two weeks is unlikely to be settled soon: it depends on how bad the next emergency will be, and how long help will take. What is clear is that governments in Britain, Japan, France and elsewhere have decided to ask households to prepare now, while they still can.

The cheapest way to do that is also the simplest: a few extra tins in the weekly shop, a few litres of water in a cool cupboard, a torch, a radio and a first aid kit in a known place. Whether that covers three days or two weeks matters less than the fact that it exists at all.

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.

Sources

• https://en.sedaily.com/international/2026/11/01/uk-and-japan-urge-3-day-supplies-experts-say-make-it-two (Seoul Economic Daily, 1 Nov 2026)
• https://www.europesays.com/britain/155955/ (The Guardian, via EuropeSays, 31 Oct 2026)
• https://www.sofx.com/from-britain-to-japan-governments-tell-households-to-stock-up/ (SOFX, 30 Oct 2026)
• https://www.operanewsapp.com/gb/en/share/detail?news_id=ea3c800a3102df4d8899c8042f7ef97a&news_entry_id=2a8441b261029en_gb&open_type=transcoded&from=newseu&request_id=share_request&share_from (Daily Express, via Opera News, 29 Oct 2026)