Phone and Internet Outage UK: How to Stay Connected
Updated: 3 days ago
If your broadband stopped working, you would probably use your mobile data.
But what if your mobile network was unavailable too?
A phone and internet outage in the UK can affect much more than entertainment.
Work, banking, healthcare, navigation, home security and communication with family can all depend on services we normally assume will be available.
UK Government Prepare guidance says communications disruption is usually short or localised, but in some circumstances — including severe weather — it can last for a number of days. In a serious outage, mobile, landline and broadband services could potentially all be affected. Prepare
The solution isn't to disconnect from technology.
It's to make sure your household has a few sensible fallbacks when technology doesn't work.
Phone and internet outage UK: prepare these backups first
Start with five questions:
Could you contact important people without your phone contacts?
Could you navigate without an internet connection?
Could family members find each other if messaging stopped working?
Could you keep your phone powered?
Does anyone in your household depend on a connected medical, alarm or care device?
If you don't know the answers, those are the gaps to address first.
1. Keep important phone numbers on paper
Most people no longer know even their closest relatives' phone numbers.
That's convenient until your phone is lost, damaged, flat or inaccessible.
Government guidance recommends keeping a paper copy of important telephone numbers and other essential information. Prepare
Consider recording:
Household members.
Close relatives.
A trusted friend or neighbour.
Children's school or childcare provider.
Doctor or other important healthcare contacts.
Energy and water providers.
Insurance contacts.
Any essential care or support services.
Keep the list somewhere household members know about.
You can still store everything digitally — the paper copy is simply your backup.
Our Household Emergency Plan UK guide explains how to organise this information.
2. Download offline maps before you need them
Your phone's GPS may continue to determine your location without mobile service, but your mapping app may need map data that would normally be downloaded from the internet.
UK Prepare therefore recommends downloading or printing maps in advance. Prepare
For journeys you make regularly, consider downloading the relevant area for offline use.
That might include:
Home.
Work.
Children's schools.
Close relatives.
Regular travel routes.
It's a small action that could make a significant difference if normal connectivity disappeared unexpectedly.
3. Know how you would get home without your phone
Imagine leaving work and discovering that mobile data isn't available.
Could you get home without checking a journey-planning app?
Government guidance recommends knowing your usual route home and being aware of at least one alternative — such as another train line, bus route or road. Prepare
You don't need to memorise an entire transport network.
Just know the basics:
Normal route → alternative route → where you would go if neither worked.
This is particularly useful for people who regularly travel significant distances from home.
4. Agree a family meeting point
If family members cannot call or message each other, having a pre-agreed meeting point removes one important uncertainty.
Government Prepare guidance recommends agreeing somewhere to meet if household members cannot contact each other. Prepare
You might choose:
A local meeting point
Somewhere familiar and accessible near home.
A secondary meeting point
Somewhere you could meet if returning to your immediate area wasn't possible.
For families with children, arrangements should fit with the emergency procedures used by their school or childcare provider.
Write the meeting points into your household emergency plan.
5. Understand Wi-Fi Calling
A mobile-network outage doesn't necessarily mean your phone becomes useless for calls.
If your broadband connection is still functioning, Wi-Fi Calling may allow a compatible phone and mobile service to make calls using Wi-Fi.
Government guidance specifically suggests trying Wi-Fi Calling where the mobile network is unavailable but an internet connection remains operational. Prepare
Check whether your phone and network support the feature and whether it is enabled.
But remember the reverse can happen too.
If your broadband fails but the mobile network remains available, your phone's mobile data connection may provide your household with temporary connectivity.
The important idea is not relying on one connection for everything.
6. Keep your phone powered
Connectivity doesn't help much if your phone battery is flat.
A charged portable power bank is one of the simplest forms of communications backup.
Keep:
A suitable power bank.
The correct charging cables.
Your phone reasonably charged when severe weather or disruption is expected.
Check the power bank periodically rather than leaving it forgotten in a drawer for years.
During an outage, Government guidance recommends using devices sparingly to conserve battery power. Prepare
If you want to improve your wider electricity resilience, read:
Would your household stay connected during an outage?
Communication is only one part of household resilience.
The free HomeStrength Home Check reviews five areas:
Prepare · Power · Water · Connect · Protect
and identifies practical gaps worth addressing first.
7. Keep another way to receive information
If television, broadband and mobile services are unavailable, how would you receive updates?
Government Prepare guidance recommends keeping a battery-powered or wind-up FM radio, with spare batteries where required. Prepare
Radio may provide another way to receive information during a significant communications or electricity outage.
A car radio may also provide access to broadcasts, although Government guidance notes that during severe weather it may be safer to remain indoors. Prepare
The point isn't that everyone needs to listen to radio regularly.
It's that an independent method of receiving information can be useful when your normal digital channels aren't available.
8. Know what happens to emergency calls
If your own mobile network is unavailable, that does not necessarily mean you cannot make an emergency call.
UK Government guidance states that emergency calls from mobiles can automatically roam onto another available mobile network. Prepare
The UK's national emergency numbers are:
999 and 112
Both can be used to contact the emergency services in the UK. GOV.UK
However, another network still needs to be available. You should not assume a mobile phone will always be able to make an emergency call during every possible outage.
9. Think about connected alarms and medical devices
This is particularly important.
Some households depend on:
Personal or telecare alarms.
Connected health-monitoring equipment.
Internet-connected medical equipment.
Digital landline services.
Other systems that use broadband or mobile connectivity.
Government guidance recommends checking with the relevant provider or manufacturer before an outage to understand what happens if broadband or mobile connectivity is lost. Prepare
If someone relies on a landline for emergency calls, check whether it will continue working during a power cut.
As the UK moves from traditional analogue landlines to digital services, some phones depend on broadband equipment and electricity. Providers have specific obligations around backup solutions for customers who rely on their landline to make emergency calls. GOV.UK
Don't wait for an outage to discover how an essential device behaves without connectivity.
10. Have a plan for vulnerable relatives
Imagine an older relative lives alone.
Normally you would simply phone them.
What happens if neither of you has working phone service?
UK Prepare recommends agreeing a backup arrangement with vulnerable people in advance. That could mean a trusted relative, friend or neighbour visiting in person if communications fail. Prepare
This is another reason household resilience isn't purely about buying equipment.
Sometimes the most effective backup is simply another person who knows what to do.
11. Understand UK Emergency Alerts
The UK Emergency Alerts system can send warnings to compatible mobile phones and tablets in an affected area when there is a threat to life.
Importantly, a compatible device does not need mobile data or Wi-Fi switched on to receive an alert. Emergency Alerts are broadcast through compatible 4G and 5G mobile networks. GOV.UK
That doesn't mean alerts will work if all relevant mobile infrastructure is unavailable.
But it does mean you shouldn't assume that having no mobile data automatically prevents an Emergency Alert from reaching your device.
Keep your phone's software up to date and check its Emergency Alerts settings.
12. Could satellite connectivity provide another backup?
This is an area worth watching.
Government Prepare guidance now specifically mentions both fixed satellite broadband and newer satellite services that connect directly to mobile devices as potential ways of remaining connected when land-based networks are unavailable. Prepare
However, availability, device compatibility and performance vary.
For most households, satellite connectivity isn't something they need to rush out and buy simply for emergency preparedness.
But as direct-to-device satellite technology develops, it could become an increasingly useful additional layer of household connectivity.
This is an area HomeStrength will continue to track.
13. Don't forget that a power cut can become a communications outage
Your home broadband equipment normally requires electricity.
Mobile infrastructure can also be affected by electricity disruption.
Government power-cut guidance therefore warns households that an electricity outage can also result in loss of internet and potentially mobile signal. Prepare
This is why our Power and Connect categories overlap.
Backup connectivity without backup power may not last very long.
And backup power isn't as useful if you haven't thought about what you actually need to keep connected.
Create a simple household communications plan
You don't need a complicated communications system.
Start with:
Paper contacts → offline maps → meeting point → alternative route home → charged power bank → radio → vulnerable-person plan
Then consider whether anyone in your household depends on equipment or services requiring a permanent connection.
Write the important information down and make sure other household members know where it is.
If you haven't created the wider plan yet, read:
And if you want to check your overall preparedness:
Bring your household plan together
The HomeStrength Household Preparedness Pack gives you a printable place to organise the information you don't want to be trying to find during an outage.
It includes:
Household emergency-plan templates.
Emergency contact sheets.
Food and water planning.
Power-cut preparation.
Grab-bag checklist.
Essential supplies tracker.
Seven-day action plan.
£9.99 · One-off purchase · Instant digital download
HomeStrength provides general household preparedness information. During an actual emergency or communications outage, follow instructions from the emergency services, your communications provider and relevant authorities.
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