The lights go out in the wind.

A cable down, or someone in danger, comes first

If a line is on the ground, hanging, or sparking, stay away from it and keep other people away. The Energy Networks Association says to keep as far from the hazard as you can, without putting yourself in danger. GOV.UK Prepare says electricity at high voltage can jump a gap. In England, Scotland and Wales the free number for a damaged line, and for a power cut, is 105. It connects you to the local network operator.

A wooden pole and the local lines are that 105 call. National Grid Electricity Transmission says a hazard on a metal lattice tower, the large pylons, is a different line: 0800 40 40 90, 24 hours. A domestic power cut still goes to 105. If someone is in immediate danger, or there is a fire, call 999 as well.

Northern Ireland uses another number. The Energy Networks Association gives 03457 643643 for a power cut or a damaged line there, and 999 where someone is in danger.

Why a dark house matters this Friday

On Monday 19 October 2026, at 11:04 (UTC+1), the Met Office issued a yellow wind warning. Checked again on 20 October, the warnings index places that yellow warning on Friday 23 October, and shows no warning for Thursday 22 October. The same page says the display may be out of date. A Met Office news post at 12:13 the same Monday described the warning as Thursday night and Friday, and quoted a Met Office update giving Friday 0000–1200 for parts of southern England and Wales. The hours can move. Open the warning for your own postcode before you treat Friday morning as the whole event.

The warning page says there is a slight chance of power cuts, and a slight chance of damage to buildings such as tiles blown from roofs. Gusts of 50–60 mph are possible, and some coastal or exposed places could see 70 mph or more, with heavy rain as well. The likelihood is low, 10–25%, and the impact is classed as significant. The wind is expected to ease late morning into the early afternoon. Among the cities on this site, Bristol is on the area list. London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds are not. A power cut can still happen outside that list. The warning is a reason to know the number, and a reason to keep a torch where you can find it in the dark. GOV.UK Prepare says a torch is safer than a candle.

A tile that has moved is a separate call, once the wind has dropped: a tile that looks out of place after the wind. Stay off the roof while it is still blowing.

When the street is dark, phone the network

Look at the houses opposite, or at a street light, before you phone a tradesperson. If they are dark as well, the cut is on the network. In England, Scotland and Wales, report it on the network operator's website, or call 105 if you cannot get online. The Energy Networks Association says 105 is free. National Grid Electricity Transmission says to use that number for a power cut, because the company that sells the energy does not repair the lines.

One exception sits with the meter. Ofgem says a supply cut by a faulty energy meter is a call to the energy supplier.

While you wait, GOV.UK Prepare says to switch off irons, ovens, electric fires and fryers, and to unplug a television or a computer so a surge does less harm when the power returns. Leave one light on, so you can see the moment it comes back. A gas boiler, a heat pump and the home internet stop when the mains stop. If the boiler will not restart after the lights return, the heating notes on this shelf cover a radiator that stays cold and a boiler that keeps losing pressure. Any smell of gas is still the National Gas emergency line on 0800 111 999 in Great Britain, free and open 24 hours, before either of those notes.

Someone who needs power for medical equipment, or who would struggle in a long cut, can join the Priority Services Register. GOV.UK Prepare says it is free in England, Wales and Scotland, and that the network operator and the supplier each keep their own register. Northern Ireland uses Customer Care Registers. Ofgem says a network operator must offer extra help to people on the register during a cut, such as a way to charge a phone or medical equipment, and that the help differs by company. Being on the register does not add a further payment.

When only your house is dark, phone an electrician

The Energy Networks Association says that if the neighbours still have power, the trip switch in your consumer unit may have operated. If you know that switch, and it stays on, the cut was inside the house and it has cleared. If it falls again, stop. Repeated resetting is how a fault gets ignored. Phone an electrician and say which rooms are dark.

Phone before you touch the board if any of these are true:

• You can smell burning, or you can see scorch marks or hear buzzing at the consumer unit.
• Rainwater has reached the board or the sockets. Leave them alone while they are wet. The split between a roofer and a plumber for that water is in water sitting against the house after the rain.
• You cannot tell which switch is which. Guessing at a board in the dark is a reason to wait for an electrician.
• The same circuit trips again as soon as one appliance is plugged back in.

A fire, or smoke from the board, is 999. The electrician comes after the fire service says the house can be entered.

In England, Approved Document P, still the current edition on GOV.UK when checked on 20 October 2026, makes three kinds of electrical work notifiable: a new circuit, replacement of a consumer unit, and any addition or alteration to existing circuits in a special location, such as the zone around a bath or shower. Repairs and maintenance outside that list are generally outside the notification rule. A replacement fuse box is inside it. GOV.UK's guide to building work, replacements and repairs, which applies to England, says you tell a building control body about a new or replacement consumer unit unless the installer is registered with a competent person scheme. That guide says a scheme member should give you a compliance certificate, and to ask the scheme operator if it has not arrived within 30 days. Scotland and Wales set their own building rules, so the same sentence does not travel with you across the border. Ask the electrician which rule they are working under.

A listing on this site prints NICEIC or NAPIT only when the record already has it. That line is not a certificate, and it is not a recommendation. You still ask what the job covers, and you still phone the business yourself.

A network payment is not a repair price

Ofgem's standards for long power cuts cover England, Scotland and Wales. They are paid by the network operator. A yellow weather warning does not, by itself, put the cut into a storm category. Ofgem says its two categories count how many extra faults the high-voltage network has in a day, and that they are different from the Met Office's colours. Category 1 is unusually bad weather that causes at least 8 to 13 times more faults than normal. Category 2 is very severe weather that causes at least 13 times more faults than normal.

The amounts in force from 1 April 2026 are in Ofgem's adjustment to the Guaranteed Standards of Performance, published 13 March 2026. The householder page, checked 20 October 2026, sets them out as follows.

• Severe weather, category 1: £90 if a home or a business is still off after 24 hours, then £45 for every further 6 hours, up to £2,235.
• Severe weather, category 2: £90 if the supply is still off after 48 hours, then £45 for every further 6 hours, up to £2,235.
• A cut the operator does not class as severe weather: £100 for a home, or £195 for a business, if fewer than 5,000 properties are off for more than 12 hours, or if more than 5,000 are off for more than 24 hours. Then £45 for every further 12 hours. Where 5,000 or more properties are affected, Ofgem's householder page gives a maximum of £400.

Ofgem says the restoration payment should arrive without a claim, once the network operator has your details, sometimes through the energy supplier. There is no payment for a blackout caused by a national power shortage, for damage to appliances, or for a low supply after the power returns. These figures are the published standards. They are not a price for an electrician, and they are not a quote from this site.

Where the electrician's number is

Open the electrical list, including Bristol, which is inside the Friday warning area, and London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds, which are not. You phone, email, or use the website on the record. A reply is between you and the business.

If the electrician says the wiring or the consumer unit should be replaced, what should be written on the quote is what sits inside a house rewire cost.