Be winter ready

Sign up to Priority Services Registers for free extra help for people in vulnerable situations when there’s an interruption to your energy or water supply. You can join the Priority Services Register if you:

are deaf or hard of hearing
have a disability
live with children under five
are blind or partially sighted
have a chronic illness
use medical equipment or aids reliant on electricity
are over 60

You need to sign up with each energy or water supplier you use.

People, such as park home residents, who do not have direct contracts or meters with their utilities providers may need to obtain the customer reference numbers for their utilities contracts from the person who pays the bill, such as the park home owner.

If you need help, you can get free, independent and confidential advice from Citizens Advice Dorset.

Be prepared with a household emergency action plan

A household emergency plan will help you and your family in an emergency such as evacuation or being stranded away from home. It ensures you have essential phone numbers, documents, information and possessions to hand, and know what to do.

If you are asked to leave your home by the emergency services, take your completed action plan and emergency grab bag, and leave as quickly as possible.

Your household emergency plan should include:

a list of the dangers in and around your home such as flooding and industrial units, the actions you will take to prepare for each danger and notes for more things you need to do such as buy batteries
essential information and numbers
sources of information
emergency grab bag
arrangements for emergency friends and family meeting points
which items would need to be moved upstairs in the event of a flood
the emergency procedures for your school, nursery, or workplace
where and how will you turn off utilities, if it is safe to do so
securing your home when you leave, if it safe to do so
the quickest route out of your home and neighbourhood

Be ready with essential information and numbers

Write down names, numbers, and details now so you have them in a rush. Keep copies in your grab bag and with your emergency friend.

all emergency services 999
police non-emergency 101
NHS 111
power cuts (all suppliers) 105
SES Water emergencies 01737 772000
Wessex Water emergencies 0345 600 4600
gas (all suppliers) emergencies 0800 111 999
Dorset Direct 01305 221000 is our out of hours service for adults and children's services, housing and homelessness, highways, flooding, coast, and countryside concerns such as rock falls. dangerous structures and issues with council buildings, urgent environmental health issues such as noise complaints and lost dogs, and urgent parking issues

Other important information

have two emergency meeting points if you can’t go home, one close by and one further away
emergency friends, one close to home and one further away who you can swap house keys with, provide a place to stay, look after each other’s children and keep copies of your most important documents or pictures safe, and be an emergency contact for family members
insurance company and policy numbers
doctors surgery
vet
gas, electricity, and water suppliers
plumber
schools or colleges, carers or childminder
work contacts

Be ready with an emergency grab bag

An emergency could happen at any time. Make an emergency grab bag with essentials in case you must evacuate your home and make a car grab bag that stays in your car

Home grab bag

copy of your household emergency action plan
copies of your essential information and numbers and important family documents in a waterproof bag
first aid kit and medication
respiratory and hearing aids, spectacles or contact lenses
cash and credit cards
basic toiletries including toilet paper, wipes, hand gel and sanitary supplies
mobile phone and charger
baby or childcare supplies or other special care items
wind and rainproof clothing and footwear
battery torch and radio with spare batteries or a wind up torch and radio
bottled water and emergency food, enough for three days
extra set of house and car keys
rubbish bags
pet supplies
notebook and pens

Car grab bag

Remember you may not be able to get home so include essential items from your home grab bag list:

emergency contact list including family, neighbours, utilities, and insurance
copies of important documents including passports, insurance, and birth certificates
household emergency life-saving plan plus your emergency grab bag and leave as quickly as possible
wind and rainproof clothing and footwear
a blanket or a sleeping bag
mobile phone, torch, radio, and extra batteries
shovel and windscreen scraper
tow chain and rope
jump leads
non-perishable food and water

Be ready with In Case of Emergency (ICE) contacts

Add your ICE contacts to your phone or in your purse or wallet so emergency services can find emergency contact details for you, if you cannot tell them. Make sure your ICE contacts have a list of people to contact on your behalf and know any important medical information.

Simply add ICE at the beginning of your emergency contact’s name and add their number. For example, write ICESarah 08785 616161.

If your ICE contact is deaf, write ICETEXTSarah and their number.

If you want more than one ICE contact, simply write them as ICE1Sarah and their number, ICE2Zahid and their number and so on.

Be safe at home

know how to find and turn off water, gas and electricity supplies in your home
know what to do if a pipe freezes or bursts
be a good neighbour, who might need help or could help you?
know what to do in a power cut
plan and test exit routes from every room
plan food, medical and practical supplies such as torches for 72 hours if you are able to
make sure your home is fire safe with this online fire safety check
make your home safe with eight top tips to avoid flying trampolines, leaking roofs and more

Be safe on the road

Do you really need to make the journey? If so:

prepare a winter care kit
try to wait for the roads to be treated before travelling
if you get stuck in your vehicle, stay in it and call 999
if you use pedal power follow these tips to winterproof your bike
make these vehicle checks before you set out
read these tips for travelling in storms, rain and strong winds
take your car emergency grab bag
make plans for pets for if you get stuck away from home
tell somebody when you expect to arrive and your route

Be safe getting out and about

Getting outside is great for our health but weather can turn quickly so follow these tips for a safe day out.

Be safe in severe weather

Be alert for family and neighbours living alone

People of all ages can be vulnerable in bad weather. Disabilities and health conditions can be hidden. Tips to help people you know who live alone:

include them in your household emergency action plan
offer to be their ICE (in case of emergency) contact
offer to be their emergency friend
check in on them
help with food shopping, collecting medication and getting to important appointments

Be warm this winter

Ideally your home and those of elderly relatives and neighbours should be at least 18°C. During cold spells, keep your windows closed at night as this can cause a real drop in the temperature indoors. If you have a heating boiler, consider getting it serviced.

Things you can do to help stay warm:

Be well in winter

Keeping warm can prevent colds, flu and more serious health problems such as heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia and depression. Cold weather can make some health problems worse and even lead to serious complications, especially if you're 65 or older, or if have a long-term health condition.

Things you can do to help stay well:

Be part of Dorset’s community resilience

Community resilience or involvement empowers individuals, businesses and community groups to take collective action to identify and support vulnerable individuals and promote resilience.

In Dorset, voluntary organisations offer support in times of need in addition to our emergency services. You can help in all sorts of ways from using your 4 by 4 vehicle to help others, to fundraising and providing administrative support.

Volunteer to be part of our community resilience or find out more.

Weather disruption

Be winter ready

Be ready for disruption

Get alerts and news

Dorset Council updates and service disruption information

Flood and weather warnings

Emergency services updates

Tune into radio stations for news

Be supported if your water or energy supply is interrupted