What counts as an electrical emergency?

The short test

Ask two questions.

1. Could someone get hurt, or could a fire start, in the next few hours? If yes, it is an emergency.
2. Can the problem be made safe by switching one circuit off, with the rest of the home working normally? If yes, it can often wait for a booked visit.

London Fire Brigade lists scorch marks, flickering lights, hot plugs and sockets, and fuses or breakers that trip for no obvious reason as signs of loose or dangerous wiring. The brigade says it has attended 26,376 electrical fires in London since 2017. Those warning signs are what decide how fast to act.

Emergencies: act now

Situation	First thing to do
Someone has had a shock and is hurt or still touching the source	Do not touch them. Switch off at the main switch or meter if you can, or pull the plug. Call 999.
Smoke, flames or glowing from a socket, appliance or fuse box	Get everyone out, close the door, call 999.
Burning smell from a socket, switch, light or fuse box	Switch off that circuit or the main switch if safe. Get an electrician out.
Sparking, crackling or buzzing with heat	Switch off if safe. Do not touch the fitting.
Water coming through a light fitting or into the consumer unit	Switch off at the main switch only if you can reach it without standing in water. Keep away from wet fittings.
Exposed live wires, such as a cable cut through during DIY	Switch off. Keep children and pets away.
Power off, not a power cut, and someone relies on medical equipment or electric heating	Get help now. Tell the electrician on the phone.

The first aid steps above come from NHS inform, which says not to touch someone who may still be in contact with electricity, to switch off at the mains or meter point if possible, and to phone 999.

For water, Electrical Safety First advises switching off at the consumer unit only if it is safe to do so, and getting a registered electrician if there is any sign of water inside it.

Urgent but can be made safe

Some problems need fixing soon but can be held safely overnight.

• One circuit keeps tripping. Leave it off. Unplug things on that circuit. Book a visit. Our guide to why electrics keep tripping explains how to narrow it down.
• Some sockets dead, nothing tripped. Often a loose connection somewhere on the circuit. Leave the circuit off if anything feels warm.
• Lights flickering in one room. Could be a bulb, a dimmer or a loose connection. If it is the whole house, and neighbours too, call 105.
• Outside light or garden socket tripping in the rain. Leave that circuit off until it is dry and checked.

Not an electrician’s job

• Power cut. If your neighbours are off, or the street lights are out, call 105 or check the UK Power Networks power cut map. In Ealing and Hounslow the network is SSEN. 105 routes you to the right one by postcode.
• Prepayment meter run out. Contact your energy supplier.
• Smart meter display blank but the power works. Your supplier again.
• Gas smell. Leave the property and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. Do not operate light switches.

What it looks like in Croydon

Croydon homes cover every era. The VOA Council Tax stock of properties 2025 shows 28.4% of homes in the borough were built before 1919, 23.5% between 1919 and 1939, and 43.2% are flats or maisonettes. That spread means a wide mix of emergencies:

• Victorian terraces in Thornton Heath, Selhurst and South Norwood with conversion wiring of mixed ages, where a burning smell at an old fuse board is a real risk.
• Interwar semis in Purley, Coulsdon and Shirley with extensions and garden rooms added onto circuits that were never meant to carry them.
• Flats near East and West Croydon where a leak from the flat above reaches a ceiling light.

Our Croydon page covers the local housing and faults in more detail.

While you wait for the electrician

• Keep the faulty circuit, or the main switch, off.
• Unplug heavy appliances so they do not start up when power returns.
• Use torches, not candles.
• Do not take covers off sockets, switches or the consumer unit.
• Do not reset a breaker that trips again straight away.
• If anything gets hotter, smells stronger or starts to smoke, leave and call 999.

When you call

Tell the electrician:

1. What you can see, hear or smell, and where.
2. What you have switched off.
3. Whether anyone is vulnerable or relies on powered equipment.
4. Your postcode, the type of home, and where the consumer unit is.

That helps them decide whether it is a make safe visit tonight or a repair in the morning, and what to bring. Ask what the call out covers before they set off; see what affects an emergency call out charge. Our emergency electrician page explains how a visit runs.