Home Emergency? Here's What to Do in the First 5 Minutes

When something goes wrong at home — a pipe bursts, you smell gas, the power goes out — the first five minutes matter more than anything else. The right action prevents damage. The wrong action (or no action) turns a problem into a disaster.

Gas Leak

If you smell gas: do not touch any electrical switches. Don't turn lights on or off. Don't use your phone inside the house. Open all windows and doors. Turn off the gas at the meter (the valve is usually next to the meter — turn it so the handle is perpendicular to the pipe). Get everyone out of the house including pets. Once outside, call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. This is free, 24/7, and they'll send an engineer.

Burst Pipe / Flooding

Turn off the water at the stopcock immediately. In most UK homes, this is under the kitchen sink — a brass or plastic valve that you turn clockwise to close. Then turn off the central heating to prevent the boiler trying to fire with no water pressure. Turn off electricity at the consumer unit if water is near electrical sockets or appliances. Use towels, buckets, and anything absorbent to manage the water. Then call a plumber.

Power Cut

Check whether it's just your house or the whole street. If your neighbours have power, your consumer unit has tripped. Open the consumer unit and look for any switches in the "down" position. If one RCD or MCB has tripped, switch it back up. If it immediately trips again, you have a fault on that circuit — leave it off and call an electrician. If the whole street is dark, call your electricity distributor (the number is on your electricity bill, or call 105).

Boiler Breakdown in Winter

Check the obvious first: is the thermostat calling for heat? Is the timer set correctly? Is there credit on the gas meter (if prepaid)? Check the boiler pressure gauge — it should read between 1 and 1.5 bar. If it's below 1, you can repressurise it using the filling loop (consult your boiler manual). If none of these fix it, call a Gas Safe registered heating engineer.

While waiting for the engineer: use electric heaters in occupied rooms, close curtains to retain heat, use hot water bottles, and keep one tap dripping slightly if temperatures are below freezing to prevent pipe freeze.

Be Ready Before It Happens

Know where your stopcock is. Know where your consumer unit is. Know where your gas meter valve is. Save your electricity distributor's number in your phone. Have a torch accessible (not buried in a drawer). These five things take 10 minutes to sort out and will save you from panicking when something goes wrong at midnight on a Sunday.