The Ready Scotland website, ready.scot, provides advice for the public on how to prepare their home, family, and business for disruption caused by emergencies, including severe weather. It also provides information on how to respond, keep safe, and help others in the community when emergencies do occur.

Here are a few simple steps to get ready for winter:

• Keep warm: Try and heat your home to at least 18ºC and wear several layers of thin clothing instead of one thick layer.
• Look out for others: Check in on elderly neighbours, friends, and anyone who may need extra support.
• Be prepared: Make sure your home emergency kit is up to date, and check that your car is ready for winter.

Find more information on our ‘Prepare for Winter’ campaign in our Partner Toolkit, which contains key messaging, social media assets and suggested captions that partners are welcome to use and adapt on their own social media channels. All content has been created under the theme of preparing for winter and the challenges it brings.

You can also follow and share winter preparedness messages directly from Ready Scotland social media channels – @ReadyScotland on X and Ready Scotland on Facebook.

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Community Councils  can also sign up for a free webinar with Scottish Government Resilient Communities team taking place on Wednesday 28th January 2026 - book your free place!

The Resilient Communities Team conducted a survey of Community Councils in late 2024 to understand what role they were playing in supporting local people through emergency challenges.

They will share a summary of the insights, and use those key findings to raise awareness of resources that can support Community Councils, as well as inviting participants to reflect on, and share, what they’ve learned about working together to prepare for emergencies.