Finland's 72-Hour Home Preparedness Advice, Explained

Quick answer: Finland asks every household to cope on its own for at least 72 hours (three days) if power, water or shops fail. The national 72 hours campaign (72tuntia.fi) gives an example three-day supply for one adult of 6 litres of water and/or other drinks plus about 2,300 kcal of food a day. The government’s Suomi.fi guide, launched in November 2024, adds a radio, cash, duct tape for sealing windows and iodine tablets for younger people. In January 2027 a printed summary is due to reach about 3.5 million homes and businesses.

Two sources, one message

Finland’s home-preparedness advice comes from two places that point the same way.

72 hours (72tuntia.fi) is run by SPEK, the Finnish National Rescue Association, with a wide group of partners. It describes the level of home preparedness that both the authorities and voluntary groups recommend. Its updated Home Preparedness brochure is dated January 2025.

The Suomi.fi preparedness guide was published on 18 November 2024. It was led by the Ministry of the Interior with the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. It covers power cuts, water outages, telecoms failures, extreme weather, accidents, pandemics and military conflict. It also deals with hybrid threats, coping in a crisis and helping others.

The guide is online in Finnish, Swedish and English. Its key points are in Finnish and Finland-Swedish sign languages, and there is a printable summary in 15 languages. When it launched, Yle reported that the ministry did not plan to print it for every household because of the cost and the need to keep it up to date. That has since changed (see below).

What 72 hours asks households to do

The basic rule: store at least three days of food and medicines, know where to find reliable news, and know how to cope in a home that is getting colder.

An example three-day supply for one adult

The 72 hours brochure gives a sample list. It shows what three days of normal eating looks like.

Item	Amount for 3 days (1 adult)
Water and/or other drinks	6 litres
Vegetables and root vegetables	600 g
Fruit and berries	400 g
Potatoes	200 g
Pasta, rice or other grains	200 g
Bread and cereals	550 g
Milk, yoghurt or plant alternatives	1 litre
Cheese	60 g
Fish, eggs, meat or plant protein	400 g
Oil and fats	150 g
Dried fruit	100 g
Nuts and seeds	90 g
Sweets or chocolate	100 g
Sugar or honey	100 g

That adds up to roughly 2,300 kcal per day. It need not be special “rainy day” food: the food you already like is fine, as long as there is enough for everyone for 72 hours. Long-life milk, crispbread, tinned fish and beans, oats and nuts keep well. Remember allergies, special diets and pets.

To keep stock fresh, eat and replace it as you go. Our guide to food rotation (first in, first out) explains how.

Water

An adult needs about 2 litres of clean drinking water a day. Counting cooking and washing, the total is one to two buckets per person per day.
SPEK’s October 2025 survey release recommends keeping 5 litres of bottled water per person.
Keep clean containers with lids, so you can collect water from an emergency distribution point. In Finland these are often set up when an outage lasts more than 24 hours.
Tap water is safe to drink during a power cut unless your water company says otherwise. Use cold water: in homes with district heating, hot water can become scalding.

Toilet tip: if there is no running water, you can flush only once. After that, line the bowl with a rubbish bag, add some dry paper, then seal it inside two more bags and put it in mixed waste.

Heat

This is where Finland’s advice is most specific. Almost all heating needs electricity, even district heating and gas. In cold weather, the brochure says:

A wood-frame house can drop to +10 °C (50 °F) in under 24 hours.
A concrete-block building takes about two days to get cold. A well-built stone house takes about three.

If indoor temperatures fall below +15 °C (59 °F), keep one room warm. Close doors to other rooms, block gaps with rugs or towels, and cover windows with heavy curtains or blankets. Wear wool, extra socks, a hat and gloves.

At night, move beds into the warmest room and share blankets: one person gives off about as much heat as a 70-watt bulb. A tent of blankets over a table keeps sleepers warmer.

Our power outage preparation guide covers safe heating and cooking.

Information and warnings

Keep a battery radio with spare batteries, a charged phone and a power bank.
Mobile networks are built to run on battery for a couple of hours at most in a power cut.
Reliable sources include Yle (the national broadcaster) and your municipality, power company and water company.
Install the 112 Suomi app, which receives all official public warnings.

The public warning signal is a rising and falling tone that lasts one minute. When you hear it, go indoors and close doors, windows and vents. Switch off mechanical ventilation, turn on the radio and wait for instructions. Take iodine tablets only if the authorities tell you to. They are recommended for people under 40 and for pregnant women.

Cash and other items

Cards and cash machines will not work in a power cut, so keep some cash. The kit list also includes a torch, a portable stove and matches, a first-aid kit and medicines, hygiene products, a fire blanket or extinguisher, duct tape, face masks and hand sanitiser.

What the Suomi.fi guide adds

The government’s checklist (updated 29 June 2026) still says at least three days. Most of it matches 72 hours, with a few useful extras:

Hygiene supplies that let you stay clean without water.
Medicines that last a little longer than your usual refill.
Duct tape for sealing windows and vents if you are told to shelter indoors.
Iodine tablets if anyone at home is 40 or younger, pregnant or breastfeeding.

2025–2026: what has changed

February 2025: the government said the Suomi.fi guide had about half a million visits and around a million page views in its first three months.
October 2025: SPEK published its ninth household survey, carried out in spring 2025 with 1,000 people aged 18–79. 54% said their preparedness met the 72-hour advice, up from 41% in 2021 and 35% in 2023. Only 35% had three days of bottled water. Young adults, people on low incomes and city dwellers were the least prepared, and 28% named cost as a barrier.
October 2026: Yle reported that the Interior Ministry will send around 3.5 million printed preparedness guides to homes and businesses in mainland Finland in January. It will be a short summary drawing on the Suomi.fi guide and 72 hours, with new advice on drones. It will come in Finnish, Swedish and Sámi and cost about €2 million.

The core advice, 72 hours, has not changed.

What this means wherever you live

Three days is a common starting target; Denmark asks for the same, while neighbouring Sweden and Norway ask for a week. Our post on the EU 72-hour preparedness strategy looks at the wider European picture. Finland’s advice is concrete: you can shop from the table above, and its heat tips work in any cold-climate home.

Not sure if your household would last three days? Check how many days your household would last. It is free and takes a couple of minutes.

Checklist: Finland-style 72 hours

Start small and build up over time, and always follow your local authorities’ instructions.

Sources & further reading

Every fact in this post was checked against the sources listed above on 1 November 2026. Advice changes: always follow your local authorities.