Finland's 72 hours: cope on your own for three days
Finnish rescue services and SPEK ask every household to cope on its own for at least 72 hours, with three days of food, water and medicines at home. Keep some bottled water, plus containers with lids to fetch water from distribution points. SPEK estimates 1 to 2 buckets of water per person per day.
What this means for your household
Set your household size to see the days, water and food the Finland advice adds up to.
Be able to cope independently for at least 72 hours.
Drinking water for 2 people. Official figure: About 2 L of drinking water per person per day, plus water for cooking and hygiene.
Person-days of food to cover (2 × 3). Pick food that needs no fridge and little or no cooking.
What to have at home
From SPEK's 72 hours home preparedness tips and the Finnish Rescue Services.
- Food, water and medicines for at least three days
- A few litres of bottled water at home
- Containers or buckets with lids to collect and store water from distribution points
- A battery radio, so you can follow instructions in a power cut
- A torch and spare batteries
- The 112 Suomi app on your phone
How Finland warns you
- The general alarm signal is a one-minute rising and falling tone.
- When you hear it, go indoors and stay inside, close doors, windows and ventilation, and turn on the radio for instructions.
- Warning systems are tested at noon on the first non-holiday Monday of each month.
- All public warnings also go to the 112 Suomi app.
Finland-specific steps
- Learn how to shelter indoors: choose a room, and know how to switch off ventilation in your building.
- Plan for winter outages: warm clothing and a way to keep one room warm without power.
- Suomi.fi collects the official guidance on preparedness, home supplies and what to do in different situations.
- SPEK's Preparedness Day each year is a good reminder to check your supplies.
Go beyond the minimum: what we recommend
Official lists cover the basics. These are the gaps we see most often when an emergency lasts longer than expected.
- Build toward 7 days of water and food, even if the official minimum is 3. Outages often last longer than planned.
- Keep paper and digital copies of IDs, insurance and prescriptions, so you can prove who you are and get medicines.
- Write the expiry date on everything and check the kit every 6 months, so it doesn't quietly go out of date.
- Plan for phone power: a charged power bank, plus a solar panel or car charger for longer outages.
- Save offline maps of your area and agree a meeting point, in case the mobile network is down.
- An offline survival guide on your phone: HAVEN tracks your kit and expiry dates and works with no signal.Download HAVEN free
Numbers to write down
- 112 · Emergency services
- 112 Suomi app · Warnings on your phone
Keep a paper copy: your phone may be flat when you need it.
Your kit, ready when the network isn't
HAVEN tracks your 72-hour supplies with expiry reminders and keeps offline guides on your phone for winter outages and sheltering indoors.
- Coverage in days for your household
- Expiry reminders
- Offline guides and AI
- Free to start, no account needed
How Finland compares
Finland: 3 days. Across the 25 governments we checked, most ask for 3 days, a growing group asks for a week, and Austria asks for the most, at 10 to 14 days. See every country's advice.
Finland preparedness FAQ
How many days of supplies does Finland recommend?
At least 72 hours (three days) of food, water and medicines, so you can cope on your own.
How much water should I store in Finland?
Keep some bottled water and containers with lids to collect water from distribution points. SPEK estimates 1 to 2 buckets of water per person per day.
What does the Finnish general alarm sound like?
A one-minute rising and falling tone. Go indoors, close doors, windows and ventilation, and turn on the radio.
When are the warning sirens tested in Finland?
At noon on the first non-holiday Monday of each month.
What is 112 Suomi?
Finland's official emergency app. You can call 112 through it, and it receives all public warnings.
Official sources
- 72 hours (SPEK)
- Home preparedness tips, 2025 (SPEK, PDF)
- Sheltering indoors (72 hours)
- Guidance on preparedness and home emergency supplies (Suomi.fi)
This page summarises official advice and is not a substitute for it. Always follow the instructions of your local emergency services. Last checked 2 November 2026.