Staying Safe in the Dark: Fire, Shock and Falls

A power cut is usually a nuisance rather than a danger, but the minutes and hours after the lights go out carry real risks: appliances that come back on unattended when the supply returns, extension leads asked to carry more than they should, candles lit in a hurry, and, after storms, power lines brought down across roads and gardens. Almost all of these risks are avoidable with a few simple habits.

The first habit is to switch things off. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service advises you to turn off all electrical equipment except a light or a radio¹. The light tells you when the power is back; the radio keeps you informed. Check your sockets regularly as well: if you see burn marks or they feel hot, get a registered electrician to check whether they need repairing or replacing².

The second habit is to keep away from anything the storm has damaged. Electricity at high voltages can jump gaps with no warning, so fallen lines and damaged equipment are treated as live until the network operator says otherwise³. Report what you see: call 105 in England, Scotland and Wales, or 03457 643643 in Northern Ireland³.

Fallen power lines and damaged equipment: keep well clear

Storms bring down trees, and fallen trees often take electricity poles and wires with them as they fall⁶. If you go out after high winds to check on property or clear debris, be extra careful around fallen trees for exactly this reason, and never touch damaged electricity equipment⁸. The nidirect guidance for Northern Ireland is blunt on the point: do not approach any damaged electricity equipment or broken power lines⁶.

The reason for the distance is not obvious to most people. Electricity at high voltages can jump gaps, so you do not need to touch a fallen line for it to reach you³. Anglesey Council's winter readiness advice puts the rule simply: always treat fallen lines as live and report them right away by calling 105⁵. That applies even if the line looks slack, scorched or dead, and even if the whole street is already without power, because a line can be re-energised without warning as engineers work to restore supply.

Report what you see rather than assuming someone else has. Call 105, free of charge, and you will be put through to your local electricity network operator, who can give you help and advice⁹. In Northern Ireland, the number is different: report anything that looks dangerous to NIE Networks on 03457 643643⁶. NIE Networks also publishes an updated list of the areas affected by power cuts on its website, which is worth checking during a storm⁸. Our page on fallen overhead lines covers this in more detail, and reporting a loss of electricity explains how the 105 service works.

Switch off and unplug: appliances left on are the main fire risk

The danger from appliances is not while the power is off. It is the moment it comes back. Anything left switched on comes on again without you realising, and if that is a cooker, grill, chip pan, hair straighteners or electric fire, it can start a fire in an empty or sleeping house¹⁰. The Met Office's seasonal advice for snow and for lightning says the same thing both times: switch off all electrical appliances that should not be left unattended, ready for when the power comes back on¹¹.

Work through the house in this order:

1. Turn off items such as irons, ovens, electric fires and fryers².
2. Unplug your TV and computer, as they can be damaged if there is a surge when the power goes back on².
3. Leave one light on so you will know when the power returns⁴.
4. Leave a radio on for news and updates¹.

The Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service adds a habit worth keeping between cuts as well as during them: always switch off electrical items when they are not in use, and have them serviced regularly¹³. Its kitchen safety advice makes the same point for the room where most electrical fires start¹⁴.

After a flood or storm: wet appliances

If electrical appliances have been wet, the London Resilience Partnership's advice for emergencies is to turn off the electricity at the fuse box, allow the appliances to dry out, and have a qualified professional check them before you turn them on¹⁵. This applies after flooding, a burst pipe in a cold snap, or rain getting into a damaged roof. Do not test a wet appliance by switching it on to see if it works. Our page on what to do when the electricity goes off covers the immediate steps, and when the supply returns covers switching back on safely.

Extension leads: the amp limit, and why leads must never join

Extension leads cause fires in two ways: they get overloaded, and they get chained together. Both are easy to avoid once you know the rules.

Every extension lead or adaptor has a limit to how many amps it can take, so check you are not overloading it¹⁶. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service gives the same warning: extension leads and adapters have a limit on how many amps they can take, so be careful not to overload them, to reduce the risk of fire¹⁷. Never ignore the warning signs on a socket or lead: burn marks, arcing (buzzing or crackling) sounds, fuses blowing, circuit-breakers tripping, or anything that feels hot to the touch. If you see any of these, unplug and contact the retailer, manufacturer, or a qualified repair technician.

Never plug one extension lead into another

Portsmouth City Council's battery and electrical safety guidance states the rule directly: do not overload sockets or plug extension leads into each other⁷. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service's advice for parents and guardians is the same: never overload sockets or extension leads²¹. The reason is arithmetic as much as heat: a lead plugged into a lead multiplies the sockets fed from one wall point, and it takes only one high-power appliance somewhere down the chain to push the first lead past its limit. Humberside Fire and Rescue Service's practical answer is to make sure cables are long enough to reach in the first place, so leads never need to be connected together²⁰.

Which appliances should never share an extension lead

Some appliances draw too much current to go on a multi-plug lead at all. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service's fire safety checklist is explicit: never use powerful appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines or tumble dryers on a multi-plug extension lead¹³. Its kitchen safety advice warns that overloading extension leads can cause fire¹⁴. Electric heaters get the same instruction from the same service: do not plug in using an extension lead, and do not overload the socket²². The National Fire Chiefs Council guidance on e-bike and e-scooter charging adds the general principle: do not overload socket outlets or use inappropriate extension leads, and make sure the lead is suitably rated for what you are plugging into it²³.

If you are using a cable drum or reel lead, London Fire Brigade's electrical items advice is that cable drum extension leads should always be completely unwound to avoid overheating¹⁹. A reel left coiled cannot shed heat, and the same current that is harmless in an unrolled lead can cook the insulation in a coiled one.

Warning signs at plugs and sockets, and damaged cables

Between power cuts, your sockets and plugs tell you when something is wrong. London Fire Brigade's advice on electrical items in the home lists the signs to look out for: scorch marks, flickering lights, hot plugs and sockets, and fuses that blow or circuit-breakers that trip for no obvious reason. These could all be signs of loose or dangerous wiring¹⁹. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service adds the action to take: check your sockets regularly, and if you see burn marks or they feel hot, get a registered electrician to check whether they need repairing or replacing²⁴.

Take damaged plugs and cables out of use straight away rather than repairing them. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's guide to fire safety at home is clear: never repair or re-join cables with insulating tape; always replace the whole cable or use an extension lead²⁵. Tape is not a permanent fix, and a taped joint hides damage you can no longer inspect.

Badly wired plugs are their own warning sign. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service flags badly wired plugs where coloured wires stick out: these can come loose, and debris can also get into the plug²⁴. If you open a plug and see exposed coloured wires, do not use it until it has been rewired properly.

The Health and Safety Executive sets the wider frame for all of this: electricity can kill or severely injure people and cause damage to property, and its main hazards include electric shock and burns from contact with live parts, injury from exposure to arcing when electricity jumps from one circuit to another, and fire from faulty electrical equipment or installations²⁶. It also advises arranging the inspecting and testing of fixed wiring installations, covering the circuits from the meter and consumer unit supplying light switches, sockets and wired-in equipment, with the work normally carried out by a competent person, usually an electrician²⁶. For an ordinary household, that means having an electrician look at the wiring if the warning signs above keep appearing.

Chargers, fake electricals and buying safely

Chargers matter during a power cut because everything rechargeable in the house depends on them, and a cut is when cheap ones get pulled out of drawers. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service's electrical safety advice is to always use the genuine charger that is designed for use with the product, as substandard and counterfeit electrical chargers can be dangerous¹⁶.

The same caution applies to anything with a heating element. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service's advice for carers states that heaters should be bought from a reputable supplier, and that the service is aware of cheap but highly dangerous plug-in heaters bought online with fake safety marks²⁷. A fake safety mark is not a minor flaw: it means the product has never been checked against the standard the mark claims.

What to check when buying electricals:

• Buy from a reputable supplier, not an unknown online seller²⁷.
• Use the genuine charger designed for the product, not a cheap substitute¹⁶.
• Treat a very low price on a heater or charger as a reason to check the seller, not a bargain²⁷.

If you already own something that has scorched a socket, overheated or given a shock, stop using it and report it to your local authority's trading standards service, which handles unsafe products in your area. Unplug it and contact the retailer, manufacturer, or a qualified repair technician. Do not approach any damaged electricity equipment or broken power lines, and in Northern Ireland report anything that looks dangerous to NIE Networks on 03457 643643.

Candles, falls and moving around a dark house

Two risks come simply from being in the dark: fire from candles, and falls from cables and clutter.

On candles, the official advice cuts both ways. nidirect's storm guidance for Northern Ireland lists keeping a supply of candles among its preparations for a power cut⁶, and candles remain a common standby. But an open flame in a house that is normally lit needs treating with respect, and the fire and rescue services' general candle advice applies with extra force when candles are used for hours at a time. Keep candles away from anything that can catch fire, never leave them unattended, and never move a lit candle around a dark house. Our emergency lighting page sets out the safer options, torches and lanterns first, and covers candle fire safety in full. If you use candles, put a working smoke alarm on each floor; our page on smoke and carbon monoxide alarms that keep working without mains explains which alarms stay live during a cut.

On falls, London Fire Brigade's extreme weather advice is short and practical: avoid trips and falls, keep your cables tidy⁹. During a cut that means two things. First, the cables you have just run for lighting and charging should be routed along walls, not across doorways and walkways where someone will find them with a foot in the dark. Second, the things you have moved while hunting for torches and batteries should go back where they belong, because a floor that was clear at midday is a hazard at midnight. The Health and Rescue Service's wider point about electricity applies here too: electric shocks can lead to other types of injury, for example by causing a fall²⁶. If someone does touch something live and gets a shock, the fall that follows can hurt as much as the shock itself.

Checking on older relatives and neighbours

A power cut that is an inconvenience for you can be a genuine danger for someone who is older, frail, or relies on equipment that needs electricity. The nidirect storm advice is to check on elderly or vulnerable neighbours in your area to make sure they are okay⁶. Do this early in the outage rather than at the end of it, because the risks, cold, darkness, and a house full of trip hazards, build over the hours.

A knock at the door is enough for most checks: are they warm, do they have light, do they have a phone that works, and is there anyone else who should be told. If they rely on medical equipment that needs electricity, our page on relying on medical equipment covers what to do, and the Priority Services Register explains who can join and what extra help network operators give during outages. You can also register a relative for extra help in many cases. Our checklist for checking on neighbours and relatives gives the full list of what to ask.

RCD protection and your home's wiring

Two pieces of your home's electrical setup change how much protection you have during and after a cut: the residual current device, or RCD, in your fuse box, and the state of the fixed wiring.

An RCD switches the power off fast if electricity flows somewhere it should not, such as through a person. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service cautions that although RCD protection reduces the risk of death or injury from electric shock, it does not reduce the need to be careful²⁴. The Health and Safety Executive adds a figure worth knowing: RCDs rated above 30 milliamps provide very limited protection against harm from an electric shock²⁸. RCD protection is particularly important when using electrical equipment outdoors²⁴, which in a power cut context means anything from a generator to a light run out to a shed.

On wiring, the Health and Safety Executive advises that fuses, circuit-breakers and other devices must be correctly rated for the circuit they protect, and that isolators and fuse-box cases should be kept closed and, if possible, locked²⁶. For the fixed wiring itself, its advice is to arrange inspecting and testing to minimise deterioration leading to danger, with the work normally carried out by a competent person, usually an electrician²⁶. After a flood or a lightning strike near your home, that inspection stops being routine and becomes urgent before you use the circuits again.

Wiring a plug yourself

The Health and Safety Executive's position is that you can do your own electrical work if you are competent to do so, and that simple tasks such as wiring a plug are within the grasp of many people, but more complex tasks, such as modifying an electrical installation, may not be²⁸. If you wire a plug, do it properly and check it before use: coloured wires sticking out of a badly wired plug can come loose, and debris can get into the plug²⁴. Anything beyond a plug, a fuse or a socket faceplate belongs with a registered electrician.