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AI-generated illustration: Severe weather

Severe weather

Stay safe through storms, hail, lightning, extreme heat, and extreme cold.

General risk

Severe weather includes strong storms and gales, hail, lightning, and periods of extreme heat or cold. These events can arrive quickly, damage buildings, cut power, and put health at risk — especially for older people, young children, and those with health conditions. The good news is that most harm is avoidable with a few simple steps. The key is to know the warnings early, take shelter in the right place, and prepare your home and household in advance. In any life-threatening emergency, call 112, the EU-wide emergency number.

When it is happening

Only if this scenario is imminent or already underway — not everyday preparation. For prep ahead of time, see How to prepare and the checklist below.

Storms, gales, hail and lightning

  1. 1Go indoors and stay away from windows, skylights, and glass doors.
  2. 2Do not shelter under trees or near power lines; if outdoors, move to a solid building.
  3. 3Unplug sensitive electronics; avoid using wired phones or plumbing during lightning.
  4. 4Keep away from the coast, riverbanks, and open high ground.
  5. 5Stay off the roads if you can; falling branches and debris are dangerous.

Extreme heat

  1. 1Drink water regularly, before you feel thirsty; avoid alcohol and very sugary drinks.
  2. 2Stay in the coolest room; close blinds and windows during the day, ventilate at night.
  3. 3Avoid the sun and hard activity during the hottest hours (roughly 11:00–18:00).
  4. 4Wear light, loose clothing and take cool showers to bring your temperature down.
  5. 5Check on older neighbours, young children, and anyone living alone at least twice a day.

Extreme cold

  1. 1Dress in several thin layers; cover your head, hands, and feet.
  2. 2Heat one room well and keep it closed; stay dry and out of the wind.
  3. 3Never use a gas grill, camping stove, generator, or oven to heat a room.
  4. 4Move gently to keep warm and eat warm meals and drinks.
  5. 5Check on vulnerable people and pets; bring animals indoors.

If someone is unwell

  1. 1Heat: move the person to a cool place, give water only if they are fully awake, cool the skin; call 112 immediately if they are confused, faint or become unresponsive — heatstroke can occur with hot dry skin or while still sweating.
  2. 2Cold: move the person somewhere warm, remove wet clothes, warm them slowly; call 112 for violent shivering, shivering that stops, confusion, or drowsiness.
  3. 3For any life-threatening emergency, call 112.

Important safety warnings

  • Call 112 immediately for any life-threatening emergency, such as heat stroke, hypothermia, or a person who is unconscious.
  • Never run a generator, gas grill, camping stove, or car engine indoors or in a garage — carbon monoxide is invisible, has no smell, and kills.
  • Never drive or walk through flood water; do not go out into a storm to secure items once winds are high.
  • Do not shelter under trees, near power lines, or on open high ground during lightning or gales.
  • Never leave children, older people, or pets in a parked car in the heat — temperatures rise to deadly levels within minutes.
  • Do not touch fallen power lines or downed cables; keep well clear and report them.

How to prepare

Prepare your home

  1. 1Secure or store loose outdoor items: furniture, bins, plant pots, trampolines, parasols.
  2. 2Check the roof, gutters, and drains; trim weak or overhanging branches.
  3. 3Know how to shut off electricity, gas, and water.
  4. 4Have working smoke alarms and a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm if you use any fuel heating.

Know the warnings

  1. 1Install an official warning app such as NINA (Germany) or your country's equivalent.
  2. 2Turn on EU-Alert / cell broadcast alerts on your phone.
  3. 3Follow local weather services and civil-protection channels.
  4. 4Keep a battery or hand-crank radio to receive news if power fails.

Make a heat and cold plan

  1. 1Keep a small water supply and know your coolest and warmest rooms.
  2. 2Store warm blankets, layers, and a way to heat one room safely.
  3. 3Agree who checks on vulnerable family members and neighbours.
  4. 4Keep essential medicines stocked and stored at the right temperature.

Build an emergency kit

  1. 1Torch, spare batteries, and a power bank for your phone.
  2. 2Drinking water and some food that needs no cooking.
  3. 3First-aid kit and a list of emergency contacts on paper.
  4. 4Cash in small notes, in case card payments are down.

Good to know

  • EU-Alert (cell broadcast) can send warnings straight to your phone during a major event — no app or signup needed. Check your phone settings are on.
  • In Germany, the free NINA app from the BBK gives official warnings for storms, heat, and other hazards; most EU countries have a similar national app.
  • Heat is one of the deadliest weather risks in Europe, but heat illness is largely preventable with shade, water, and cooling.
  • Most lightning injuries happen to people caught outdoors — the safest place is inside a solid building or a hard-topped vehicle.
  • Power cuts often follow storms and cold snaps, so a torch, power bank, and some water and food at home make a real difference.

Preparedness checklist

The concrete steps for this scenario. Add them to a plan to track your progress.

Actions

  • Turn on EU-Alert / cell broadcast on your phoneEssential

    Cell broadcast reaches your phone with no app or signup, even on congested networks. Check now that it is enabled: on iOS at the very bottom of Settings > Notifications, on Android under Settings > Safety & emergency. Re-check after updates or a new phone; in Germany, DE-Alert needs Android 11+ or iOS 16.1+.

  • Secure or store loose outdoor items before stormsEssential

    Gale-force gusts turn garden furniture, parasols, bins and trampolines into projectiles that injure people and smash windows. Move light items indoors and tie down or weight anything heavy as soon as a storm warning arrives, never once winds are already high. Retract awnings and close shutters too.

  • Agree who checks on vulnerable peopleEssential

    Older people living alone are at the highest risk in heatwaves and cold snaps, and they often will not call for help themselves. Agree in advance who checks on whom, then check daily during heat or cold warnings. Confirm they are drinking enough, can keep one room cool or warm, and have their medicines to hand.

Supplies

  • Keep drinking water and no-cook food at homeEssential

    Storms and cold snaps can cut power, and sometimes water, for days. Plan about 2 litres of water per person per day plus food you can eat cold - canned goods, crispbread, nuts, UHT milk - for at least 72 hours; official German guidance suggests ideally ten days. Stock what you normally eat and rotate before expiry.

  • Keep a torch, batteries, and a power bank readyEssential

    After a storm-related power cut you need light and a working phone. Choose LED lights - a headlamp keeps your hands free. Standardise on one battery size (AA or AAA) and store spares outside the devices. Add a USB-C power bank in the 10,000-20,000 mAh class and top it up on a reminder every 3-6 months.

  • Fit a carbon monoxide alarm if you use fuel heatingEssential

    CO is invisible and odourless, and poisonings rise when storms cut power and people heat with fuel. Choose an alarm certified to EN 50291-1, fit one in each room with a fuel-burning appliance 1-3 m from it, and replace it by its marked end-of-life date. Grills and generators still belong outdoors only.

  • Store warm blankets and layers for cold snaps

    If heating fails in a cold snap, several thin layers keep you warmer than one thick garment, because the air trapped between them insulates. Keep wool or fleece layers, hats, warm socks and a blanket or sleeping bag per person; wool warms even when slightly damp, unlike cotton.

  • Keep a battery or hand-crank radio

    Broadcast transmitters keep running when storms take down power and mobile networks - a mains-independent radio stays your most reliable news source. Pick a dual FM and DAB+ tuner that runs on batteries, ideally with crank or solar backup, and store spare batteries outside the device.

Skills

  • Learn how to shut off power, gas, and water

    When a hard freeze bursts a pipe or storm water reaches wiring, you may need to cut a supply within minutes. Find your main electricity breaker, gas shut-off valve and water stopcock now - ask your landlord or building manager if needed - and label each one. Then walk every adult in the household through them.

  • Learn first aid for heat and cold illness

    Heat stroke and hypothermia call for fast, simple aid: call 112 at once if someone is confused, drowsy or unconscious, then move a hot person to shade and cool them, or warm a cold one gently. A certified first-aid course from an aid organisation covers this in a day; refresh it every few years.

Know & check

  • Install an official warning app (e.g. NINA)Essential

    Official apps push localised storm and heat warnings before the weather turns. In Germany, NINA (from the BBK) and KATWARN carry official alerts; several other EU countries offer similar national apps. Allow notifications, set your home area, and treat the app as one warning channel among several.

  • Know your coolest and warmest rooms

    In a heatwave the coolest spot is usually a north-facing or shaded room on a lower floor; in a cold snap, a small room is easiest to keep warm for everyone together. Walk through your home once and note both. In heat, air the home at night and shade windows by day - external shutters beat curtains.

Which plan?

Add this scenario to an existing plan — or create a new one.

    Official sources

    Content last reviewed: July 24, 2026