The short answer
Where water is showing at a light, ceiling rose, socket or fuse board, cut the power to that circuit from the consumer unit, provided you can get to it with dry hands and dry feet. Keep people away from the wet patch and phone a qualified electrician. If there is smoke or a burning smell, ring 999; if the unit itself is wet or arcing, keep clear and get an electrician. Then have the leak stopped.
Making the circuit safe first
Water finds the lowest point and the easiest route, and in a ceiling that route often follows a cable or comes through the hole made for a light fitting. A wet fitting can carry current into the water, the plaster or the floor beneath it. So the first step is not a bucket, it is the power.
Head for the consumer unit, the box holding the fuses or trip switches, and turn off the circuit serving the wet area. If the labels are unclear, use the main switch and shut everything down. Do this only when the unit is dry and the floor around it is too. If you cannot, or the water is near the unit, stay away and call your electricity distributor or an electrician.
Never touch a wet switch, and do not use the light in the affected room. Keep children and pets out. Extension leads and portable heaters should come out of the room too, and nobody should try to dry anything out with an appliance that plugs in nearby.
Signs that mean call emergency services
Most drips are a nuisance, not an emergency, though the risk rises with the amount of water and how close it is to wiring. Some are different. Ring 999 if you see smoke or smell burning. Sparks, scorch marks, a heavy drip from a fitting or a ceiling sagging above electrics mean leaving the room and calling an electrician urgently. A bulging ceiling can come down without warning, and our page on a ceiling bulging with water explains how to relieve it safely.
Do not stand beneath a swollen ceiling. If you can, place a bucket where it is not sagging, and move out of the room. If you do not feel confident that the area is safe, leave it, and treat the room as out of bounds until a professional says otherwise.
Calling an electrician, and what they check
A qualified electrician will test the circuit before it is switched back on, using instruments that show whether the insulation round the cable is still sound. They look at the fitting, the cable above the ceiling, any junction boxes in the void, and the condition of the wiring where water has run along it. Wet insulation around a cable can leave a fault that only shows itself weeks later, so a quick test is worth having even if the light seems to work again.
Tell the electrician where you saw water, how long it dripped and whether it ran along a cable or through the fitting itself. Those details save time, and photographs taken from a safe distance help too. If the fitting is a downlight set into the ceiling, expect them to take it down and look into the void behind it.
Do not switch the circuit back on yourself just because the ceiling looks dry, and do not let anyone replace a bulb in a fitting that has been wet. Plaster can feel dry on the surface while the void above stays damp, and old wiring can fail after drying. If the electrician finds damage, the repair or replacement of the cable and fitting is a job for them, not for the roofer.
Stopping the water coming in
With the power off and the area clear, limit the water. Put a bucket or basin under any drip, with a towel in the bottom to stop splashing. Move furniture and valuables away, and lift rugs. If the loft is easy to enter and the hatch is clear of any wet ceiling, you can look for where the water is arriving and slide a bowl under it. Do not walk across joists in the dark, and never step on plasterboard.
A roofer can then cover the leak from outside. Our first visit is about getting the roof watertight, normally with a temporary covering fixed over the damaged area, and we explain what we found before suggesting anything lasting. Our page on tiles blown off a roof describes one very common cause, and what to check after a storm lists others.
Telling your insurer, and drying out
Wet electrics and a damaged ceiling are the kind of loss people often report to their insurer. ABI advice issued for Storm Eunice in 2022 said to contact the insurer as soon as possible, to speak to them before arranging temporary repairs where you can, and to keep receipts. Photographs of the water and the fitting, taken from a safe distance, make a useful record. See repairing a roof before you claim for the order in which to do things.
Once the roof is sealed, the area has to dry thoroughly before the circuit is reinstated. Dehumidifiers and ventilation help, but wiring in a damp void should still be tested by the electrician before the power returns.
Booking the roof repair
Once the electrician has dealt with the circuit, the roof needs a lasting fix. At a survey we trace the entry point, photograph it and send a written quote giving one overall price. We propose the lightest repair that will stop the leak for good, back it with a written 10-year guarantee and take our waste away. To book, ring 01793 626096, send a WhatsApp or fill in the form. For the wider picture, our emergency roof repairs hub is the place to start.
If the leak turns out to have come from a tile that slipped weeks ago, the electrician's test and the roof survey together give you a full picture of what the water reached. Keep both reports with your photographs.