What the Great Storm, Storm Arwen and the Iberian blackout teach UK homes

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Most power cuts are short, but a few last days. In Storm Arwen, Ofgem says over one million customers lost power, 82% were back within 24 hours, but around 40,000 waited more than three days. The lessons are simple: keep a torch, a battery or wind-up FM radio, some cash, water and food for a few days, check on neighbours, and join the Priority Services Register if you need extra help.

This post looks back calmly at three events, using only the official reports. Each one shows the same thing: the grid comes back, but sometimes it takes longer than people expect.

What happened in the Great Storm of October 1987?

The storm hit on the night of 15 to 16 October 1987. The worst damage was in south-east England. The Met Office case study says:

• 18 people were killed in England.
• About 15 million trees were blown down.
• Fallen trees blocked roads and railways, and Gatwick Airport was closed.
• Thousands of homes were without power for more than 24 hours.

The Met Office's history page gives the highest UK gust as 115 mph at Shoreham, at 3.10am. The case study notes that many more people might have been hurt if it had struck in the day.

What changed afterwards? The Met Office set up the National Severe Weather Warning Service. Since a 2015 pilot with Met Éireann, it also names storms that could have a big impact. Today, a storm like this would come with a named warning days ahead.

The home lesson: take warnings seriously, and have a torch and radio where you can find them in the dark. Our guide to the first 10 minutes after a severe weather warning turns this into steps.

What happened in Storm Arwen in 2021?

Storm Arwen arrived in late November 2021. Ofgem's final review says winds reached up to 98 mph in some areas and caused over 9,700 network faults, mainly from strong winds and fallen trees.

Ofgem found that many people were "badly let down", often with poor communication and not knowing when power would return. People off for 48 hours or more told Ofgem's researchers about very cold homes, and some homes that rely on electric water pumps had no water for drinking or washing. Some lost food in fridges and freezers.

What helped? The government's own review, by the Energy Emergencies Executive Committee, found:

• Call centres were overwhelmed in some areas, so people couldn't report the cut. Automated phone lines with text confirmation, and reporting through an app, worked better.
• A small number of homes lost phone and internet as well as power, so they had no way to report the fault or hear about help.
• It said local radio and leaflets should be used to reach people without internet. One network operator found local radio often worked better than national radio, because local stations played fuller updates.
• Changing estimated restoration times made it harder for people to make decisions about their own welfare.

Compensation: Ofgem says network operators agreed to lift the usual £700 compensation cap during Storm Arwen. It reports £29.64 million already paid in compensation, plus a further £10.28 million agreed by three operators. Our power cut compensation guide explains what you can claim today.

The home lessons: have a battery or wind-up FM radio, and plan for a few days, not a few hours, if you live somewhere rural.

What happened in the Iberian blackout of April 2025?

At 12:33 CEST on 28 April 2025, the power systems of mainland Spain and Portugal had a "total blackout", says ENTSO-E, the body for Europe's grid operators. Its expert panel found no single cause: several factors, including problems with voltage control, led to fast rises in voltage and generators disconnecting one after another. The final report came out on 20 March 2026.

Spain's grid operator, Red Eléctrica, says 99.95% of demand was back by 7am on 29 April. That is less than 19 hours after the blackout began, though it meant a whole evening and night without power.

The UK's National Risk Register 2026 mentions it twice. It says the outage left millions without power. It also says several data centres had outages and some cloud services could not be reached, which shows how a power cut spreads into phones, payments and online services.

Could it happen here? The National Risk Register says Great Britain has never had a nationwide loss of power and the likelihood is low, but it plans for one. Our post on a Spain-style blackout in the UK, hour by hour sets out the government's planning scenario.

The home lessons: keep some cash, because card machines and cash machines need power, and keep phones and a power bank charged.

What do all three have in common?

What should I keep at home after reading this?

GOV.UK Be Ready gives a short kit list. These items match what went wrong in all three events:

• Torch and spare batteries (Be Ready says torches are safer than candles)
• FM radio, battery or wind-up, with your local station frequencies written down
• Charged power bank
• Cash, a mix of coins and notes, plus cards
• Bottled water for 3 days: 3 litres per person per day for drinking
• Non-perishable food for 3 days
• Essential medicines
• Blankets, sleeping bags and warm clothes
• Important phone numbers written on paper

Our guide to local radio in a power cut helps you find your station.

Who should check on whom?

Be Ready says make a plan to check on neighbours, especially if the power goes out, and swap contact details. Think of people who live alone or are new to the area.

Be Ready's power cuts page says you can report a power cut free on 105 in England, Wales and Scotland. It also says the Priority Services Register is a free service for people with additional needs, and lots of homes are eligible, including those with children under 5. If someone in your home relies on power for health, see our Priority Services Register guide.

General information, not professional advice. Figures are as published in the official reports linked above. In an emergency, call 999.

Related guides

• Priority Services Register: a plain guide
• Power cut compensation UK: how much and how to claim
• Storm and flood preparation in the UK
• Which radio station to listen to in a power cut

Free tools

• Power cuts near me
• Emergency cash calculator

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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