Power cut warnings for Great Britain
When the grid gets tight, NESO issues official warnings written for power stations and traders. Grid Alert™ checks for them every minute and gives your home one clear status: what they mean, and what to do.
Most days: “Nothing to report.”“Small chance of controlled cuts.”“Charge phones and power banks now.”“Block C is off until 19:30.”
Coming this winter to Android and iPhone.
Free. No account, no location, no tracking.
Official sources. NESO and Elexon, read every minute.
Plain English. What a notice means, and what to do.
Private by design. No account, no location, no tracking.
Calm. Most days it says nothing to report.
Inside the app
Screens show example situations.
How it works
Colour means what you should do, not how the grid feels. Each level tells you what’s happening, when, and what to do about it.
“Nothing to report.”
No NESO warnings that affect households. The grid has the spare capacity it needs. Most days, all winter.
“Small chance of controlled cuts.”
NESO has warned of a real risk with a time window. Most are stood down. Worth knowing; nothing to do yet.
“Charge phones and power banks now.”
Cuts are likely or your block is on a published rota. Short, practical steps while there’s time.
“Block C is off until 19:30.”
Your block is in a planned rotation. When it should be back, and 105 to call if it isn’t.
Do you know your letter?
Every home in Great Britain is in a rota block, shown by a letter on the bill. If rotating power cuts are ever needed, they go block by block. Almost nobody knows theirs.
Add your letter once. Grid Alert tells you if your block is on the rota, when it’s off and when it should be back. The letter stays on your phone.
Wasted wind
When Scotland’s wind can’t reach England, because the network can’t carry it all south, NESO pays wind farms to stop and pays gas stations further south to start. Grid Alert shows you how much was switched off, and why, each day it matters.
One minute
Captions carry the whole story, so it works with the sound off. App screens show example situations.
Plans
Plus looks 14 days ahead and adds the detail behind the warnings. Pro is the record, for people who work with the grid. No plan unlocks a warning: the free app is the safe one.
Freealways
Everything a household needs to act.
See the fortnight ahead
£29.99a year, about half the cost of paying monthly. Or £4.99 a month. Inc. VAT.
NESO’s forecasts for the next 14 days, and the detail behind them.
Everything in Free, and:
Coming 2027 · on the web
£99a year, inc. VAT
The record, for people who work with the grid.
Everything in Plus, and:
| Feature | Free | Plus | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alerts | |||
| Controlled cuts imminent, high risk of demand reduction, rotating cuts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Heads-ups before a possible cut | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Every grid notice: margin and capacity notices, emergency interconnector requests, severe space weather | No | Yes | Yes |
| Weather warnings for your town | Yes | Yes, named by town | Yes, named by town |
| Places | |||
| Places, each with a rota letter and weather town | 1 | Up to 6 | Up to 6 |
| Local power cuts map, from all six network operators | No | Yes | Yes |
| Home-screen widgets and Quick Settings tile (Android) | One place | Every place | Every place |
| The grid, today and ahead | |||
| Every NESO notice, explained | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Live frequency, fuel mix, spare capacity for 12 hours | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Outlook | 3 days | 14 days | 14 days |
| Greenest hours: when electricity is cleanest in your region | No | Yes | Yes |
| Frequency left its normal band today | How many times | Each one, with times and depth | Each one, with times and depth |
| Wasted wind: how much was switched off, and why | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stations offline, new breakdowns, sharp falls in wind, which wind farms were switched off | No | Yes | Yes |
| What NESO paid to stop and start generators | Today’s total | Which stations and wind farms | Every day, downloadable |
| The record | |||
| Web dashboard | No | No | Yes |
| History of every notice, excursion and curtailment day | No | No | Yes |
| NESO’s forecasts as they stood, archived since 14 October 2026 | No | No | Yes |
| CSV downloads and API | No | No | CSV; API later |
| Ledger proving when each alert went out | No | No | Yes |
| Privacy and buying | |||
| Account needed | None | None, bought through your app store | Email sign-in, for downloads and keys |
| Where to buy | — | In the app | On this website, by card or invoice |
For organisations
Schools, care homes, surgeries, facilities teams, data centres and councils get the same warnings as everyone else, early enough to act. Put one line in your continuity plan for each level, and everyone knows which step they’re on.
Continuity plan
If the power may go off
Grid Alert Pro · design preview
Pro lives on the web, not in the phone app: a dashboard of everything the grid did, kept as it was published. Our archive of NESO’s feeds started on 14 October 2026; Pro opens after its first full winter, with a free sample month first.
Notices, 2026
Download CSVDesign preview. Rows fill from the archive when Pro opens.
Private by design
Grid Alert works without knowing who or where you are. Your rota letter and places stay on your phone. Alerts arrive through your phone’s own push service, with nothing that identifies you. There’s no analytics in the app or on this website, and no cookies.
Questions
No. Grid Alert is made by Oceanic Intelligence Ltd, an independent British company. It reads NESO’s and Elexon’s public data and explains it. It isn’t affiliated with NESO, National Grid or any network operator.
No, and nobody can. Most power cuts are local faults or storm damage that happen without notice. Grid Alert relays the grid’s official warnings early and shows the network operators’ live power cut lists. If your power goes off, call 105, free from any phone in England, Scotland and Wales.
Unlikely. NESO’s Winter Outlook for 2026/27 expects enough capacity, with the tightest days most likely on weekday evenings in December or January. Most winters nothing happens. Grid Alert is how you’d know if it did.
It’s printed on your electricity bill, usually near your meter details. If you can’t find it, your supplier can tell you. You can use the app without one and add it later.
Yes. Grid Alert is built for Android and iPhone, with the same version on both.
Because every warning that needs a household to act should reach everyone. Plus pays for the detail: the full 14-day outlook, routine notices and more places. It never unlocks a warning, even on a tight evening.
Guides
Coming this winter, free on Android and iPhone.