How to charge your phone in a power cut

First: save the battery you have

Be Ready's advice for phone outages is to use your devices sparingly until you can charge them again. Some simple ways:

• Don't use the phone as a torch. Be Ready says it drains the battery quickly; keep a real torch.
• Turn the screen brightness down and close apps you don't need.
• Switch on low-power or battery-saver mode.
• Send texts or messages rather than making calls: Be Ready says messages may get through when calls don't.
• Agree a time to check in with family, rather than staying online.

Keep a battery or wind-up FM radio for news, so your phone isn't your only source.

Option 1: a power bank (best)

Be Ready lists a charged power bank in its emergency checklist, and its storm advice is to charge phones, power banks and any back-up batteries for medical equipment when a storm is forecast.

• Check the capacity (shown in mAh) against your phone's battery to see how many charges you'll get. Our runtime calculator does the sums.
• Keep it charged. A power bank that's been in a drawer for a year may be nearly flat. Top it up when you check your kit.
• Have the right cable for every phone in the house.

Option 2: the car

A 12V car charger or the car's USB socket will charge a phone, and the car radio gives you news (Be Ready).

• Only run the engine outdoors, in the open. The NHS warns that running a vehicle engine in an enclosed space, such as a garage, can cause a build-up of carbon monoxide, which can make you seriously ill.
• In severe weather, Be Ready says it may be safer to stay inside than go out to the car.
• Don't run the battery flat: if you charge with the engine off, you may not be able to start the car.

Option 3: solar chargers

A small solar panel or solar power bank can top up a phone on a bright day. In a UK winter, daylight is short and often cloudy, so treat solar as a back-up. Sweden's crisis brochure lists radios powered by batteries, solar panels or a winding handle among things to take if you have to leave home.

Option 4: wind-up chargers and radios

Many wind-up radios have a USB socket. Winding gives a small top-up, useful for an emergency call or message, but it takes a lot of winding to charge a phone fully. Keep a power bank as well.

Battery safety

Power banks and phones use lithium-ion batteries. The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), which issued advice after fires involving lithium batteries in e-bikes and e-scooters, recommends:

• buy from known sellers and check reviews before you buy;
• use the maker's recommended charger and batteries;
• unplug when charging has finished.

Power banks have been recalled for fire risk in the UK. One OPSS recall notice describes power banks that could overheat and catch fire. If you're unsure about yours, check GOV.UK's product recalls and alerts, and stop using a recalled model.

Common-sense steps that go with this:

• Charge on a hard surface you can see, not under a pillow or on a bed.
• Stop using a power bank that's swollen, hot, cracked or smells odd.
• Be Ready says faulty electrical appliances cause thousands of house fires each year, and to fit smoke alarms on every floor and test them monthly.

Never do these

• Never run a generator indoors, in a garage or near open windows and doors (NHS, HSENI).
• Never run a car engine in a garage to charge a phone.
• Never use a barbecue or camping stove indoors to boil a kettle or keep warm (NHS).

If you can't call out

Be Ready says emergency calls to 999 or 112 from a mobile automatically connect to any available network. If you still can't get through, try a landline, or go to the nearest police station, fire station, ambulance station or hospital if it's safe. Report a power cut on 105 (03457 643643 in Northern Ireland).

Related guides

• How many phone charges will a power bank give you in a power cut?
• Do you need a portable power station for power cuts?
• Which radio station to listen to in a power cut
• Power cuts in the UK: what to do

Free tools

• Power bank and power station runtime calculator
• Power cuts near me

We're an independent UK site, not the government. We check guides against official sources and link to them. In an emergency call 999.

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