Bunkers, cash and stockpiling: The European countries preparing for national emergencies

Prepper culture used to be a niche interest, often viewed as a pastime for conspiracy theorists. But these days, low-grade survivalism has entered the mainstream, with governments telling citizens to prepare at home for major crises like war, extreme weather, and cyber security threats. The British Government has warned the public to stock up on food and water, to ensure they could cope in the event of a shortage, power cut or national disaster. Ireland’s government recently launched its new Be Emergency Ready campaign, with a preparedness booklet to be distributed to households. Many European countries are ahead of Britain in encouraging their citizens to stockpile and prepare. France and Spain, for example, are already dealing with severe wildfires in the summers, while Finland, which shares a border with Russia, is considered a model of preparedness. What can we learn from them? Shorts Finland Finland is often highlighted as one of the best-prepared countries, with readiness woven into its culture, history, and government. A cornerstone of Helsinki’s strategy is the recommendation that every household should be able to cope for 72 hours without support. The aim is that resources can then be directed where the need is greatest. It has a network of bunkers that can accommodate around five million people and compulsory national service. The government carries out drill exercises, with defence shelters opened and thousands of volunteers sleeping overnight in them, to test how authorities and residents would cope. Every Finnish national has a state-approved recommended checklist with advice about emergency supplies, from stocking up on bottled water, torches, batteries and an amount of cash, to essential medicines and easy-to-prepare packaged food, which should be kept in your house. Eli Maki, 32, who lives in Himanka, says Finns have an inbuilt prepper mentality. “Power shortages used to be a regular occurrence even in the outskirts of cities in the 90s, and that is still the case for more remote areas,” she says. At the moment, Maki has enough food, water and other essentials at home to manage if normal services were disrupted for about a week. “I also have torches, batteries, power banks, a battery radio, first aid supplies, medicines and food that doesn’t depend on the freezer staying cold.” Eli Maki, 32, has enough supplies to last her for a week “My advice is to try and disconnect from technology and live without electricity for about half a day a week to see how you cope. Think of it like a digital detox. It’s a great way to spot any weaknesses in your prepping plans. For example, you may have only saved food that needs to be heated, but have no way to cook without electricity,” says Maki. The Netherlands In the Netherlands, a network of sirens, which would warn of a flood or nuclear attack, are tested on the first Monday of every month. The Dutch government asks every citizen to be prepared to cope without help for the first 72 hours of an emergency, regularly sending national text messages. More than 60,000 people have downloaded its advice app, which works even when the internet goes down. Its guidance includes three litres of water per person per day, long-lasting food, a battery radio, a power bank, cash, blankets and copies of important documents. The Netherlands is one of several countries issuing guidance about cash – recommending everyone keeps €70 per adult (£61) and €30 per child (£26) at home at all times. France, Sweden, Austria and Ireland have advised their citizens to keep cash, but the UK has not. The government has also begun running drill operations with actors to test authorities’ ability to cope with a national emergency. Pieter Jansen, 57, who lives in Rotterdam, says the key to being prepared for an emergency is community. “The longer I’ve thought about preparedness, the more I’ve realised there’s a flaw in the idea that you simply shut your front door and look after yourself. In a real emergency, the people living around you could be far more useful than another 20 tins of food.” In his neighbourhood, they have created a group which meets regularly to talk about what they’d do if there was a serious power cut or emergency that lasted several days. “We talk about who might need checking on and discuss pooling our skills. One neighbour has medical training, another has camping equipment and a gas stove. Someone else has a battery radio. We have a community shed we keep supplies in, and everyone has a key.” As Jansen, who recently joined a community allotment so he can grow his own vegetables, says: “If 10 households have absolutely nothing and one household has everything, that’s not a good emergency plan. I’m preparing for disruption, not Armageddon, and if something serious ever does happen, I don’t particularly want to survive it by myself.” Spain In April 2025, a combination of factors triggered an unprecedented blackout that left Spain and Portugal without electricity for several hours, cutting internet and telephone connections and halting transport links. The nation was praised for coping without mass panic. Marta Uriel, 38, from Valencia says the power cut helped her become more prepared for an emergency. She has started stockpiling quite modestly. “I bought bottled water, a power bank, torches, batteries and a radio. Then I started keeping food in a box under the bed – things I could eat without cooking like granola bars and nut butter. I don’t have a lot of space, but I make it work. “I also bought a hiking backpack, that I have filled with emergency kit including food, changes of clothes, medication, and important documents. I keep it near the front door so I can grab it in a rush and go for walks wearing it, so I know I could carry it if there’s an emergency and I need to travel on foot.” Marta Uriel’s emergency backpack is filled with food, changes of clothes, medication and important documents With Spain facing annual wildfires and extreme heat, it now has one of the world’s most advanced network of “climate shelters” – buildings with air-con, seating and free water to be used as refuges during heatwaves. Germany Germany’s federal civil-protection agency recommends having enough supplies for 10 days, including food and drinking water, although it says even three days of supplies is worthwhile. Lukas, 42, who lives with his wife Anna, 40, near Cologne, says: “Before we had children, I probably would have laughed at the idea of being a prepper. When our youngest child was born four years ago, it coincided with the beginning of the conflict in the Ukraine, and I started imagining having to cope if war broke out.” The couple decided their aim would be to manage as a family without going to the shops for around seven days. “That sounds enormous but we didn’t buy everything at once. Every time we go shopping, we buy a little extra: pasta, rice, tinned vegetables, soup, oats and UHT milk. With a six- and four-year-old, we have to make sure the things we stock up on are things they like, because an emergency is not the time to find out you’ve bulk-bought food your children won’t eat! “The children know there are emergency supplies, but we deliberately don’t frighten them. We treat it like knowing where the fire extinguisher is. Some of our friends think we’ve gone too far by filling our garage with cans and water, but my philosophy is that if nothing happens, we’ve lost almost nothing. We regularly rotate the food and eat it anyway,” says Lukas.