The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has published a collection of eight rapid evidence summaries on health during a national power outage. The GOV.UK page carrying the collection is dated 16 December 2025, and each of the eight documents is marked as published in November 20251.
The agency states that the summaries "identified and summarised evidence on the key health topics in the event of a national power outage"1. It says they were undertaken in summer 2023 to help inform public health advice in the event of such an outage, and that they cover eight review questions within three key health topics: water and sanitation, food and nutrition, and keeping warm or cool in extreme weather1.
"These 8 rapid evidence summaries identified and summarised evidence on the key health topics in the event of a national power outage."
The eight documents, with their reference numbers and page counts as listed on the page, are:
| Summary | Ref | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum water requirements | GOV-16949 | 15 |
| Safe drinking water alternatives | GOV-16950 | 30 |
| Breast milk alternatives for babies who are not breastfed | GOV-16951 | 15 |
| Sterilisation of baby feeding bottles | GOV-16952 | 16 |
| Minimum calorie and nutritional requirements | GOV-16953 | 16 |
| Minimum amount of alcohol to cause dehydration | GOV-16954 | 18 |
| Public health management approaches to extreme hot or cold weather | GOV-16955 | 12 |
| Additional calorie requirements in extreme cold weather | GOV-16956 | 48 |
All eight are PDF files. The page notes that the files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and gives an email address, publications@ukhsa.gov.uk, for requesting an accessible format1.
The page does not set out the findings or conclusions of any of the summaries, and no figures from them, such as minimum water or calorie amounts, have been reported on the page. The summaries are described as evidence reviews intended to inform public health advice; the page links to a separate publication of public health advice from UK chief medical officers during a national power outage, but does not reproduce its contents1.
Why it matters for households
The summaries concern the health questions that arise for households when power supplies fail nationally: how much water people need, what to use if drinking water is unsafe, how babies who are not breastfed are fed and how feeding bottles are sterilised without power, minimum calorie and nutritional needs, the effect of alcohol on dehydration, and keeping warm or cool in extreme weather, including additional calorie needs in extreme cold1. The documents are evidence reviews prepared to inform official public health advice rather than instructions to households, and the page itself gives no guidance on quantities, products or actions. The separate public health advice publication is linked from the page but its content is not summarised there1. The background to how Britain would respond to a nationwide loss of power is set out in the guide to a nationwide blackout, with further material in the power cuts hub and the UK preparedness hub.
What happens next
No next steps are given on the page beyond the request route for accessible formats of the eight PDFs1. No date has been reported for any update to the summaries or for publication of further material arising from them.
A Nationwide Blackout
