Millions of older Brits who lost their winter fuel bills because of Rachel Reeves are at risk of freezing – as up to 8 inches of snow expected as Arctic blast hits country

MPs and campaigners have warned that millions of elderly people who have lost their winter fuel payments are at risk of freezing to death as the first heavy snowfall and frigid temperatures hit the country.

The cold snap is expected to continue for several days, with temperatures dropping below freezing overnight and pensioners worried about their utility bills being urged not to turn off their heating.

The UK Health and Safety Authority (UKHSA) has warned that as people struggle to keep indoor temperatures at the recommended 18 degrees (64 degrees Celsius), there will be an increase in They warned that serious deaths were likely to occur.

The country has issued a six-day Amber cold warning for all of England until Wednesday, meaning the weather could impact the NHS and increase demand for services from the most vulnerable. There is.

Ten million pensioners are already heading into winter with reduced support after Labor scrapped winter fuel payments worth up to £300.

Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said this winter’s first spell of cold weather would “bring the government’s policies into sharp focus”.

She said the charity had already been contacted by people “worried about what to do”, but urged them to “do everything they can to stay warm” and urged energy companies to He added that he had a “duty to help” people who are suffering.

Labor MP Rachel Maskell, a critic of Chancellor Keir Starmer’s winter fuel policy, said £300 was “unavoidable money” and that older people would be afraid to turn on the heat.

“I’m very worried,” she said. “The government gives a lot of support to energy companies and has a duty to deal with people who are struggling to pay their bills, but my concern is that many older people don’t even have their heating on in the first place. .

“For that generation, £300 is a lot of money they can’t afford. They’re worried about how they’re going to pay for it. A full impact assessment[of reducing winter fuel costs]hasn’t been done yet and this prolonged period of cold weather means This will be the first real test.”

He said there was a direct correlation between cold weather and an increase in heart attacks and strokes among pensioners, who were “already hot and under extreme pressure from flu and winter bugs”. He said it was having a knock-on effect on the NHS.

Twenty MPs left the party yesterday after criticizing Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, highlighting the rift within the Labor Party over job cuts.

Broxtow Borough Councilors, including leader Milan Radulovic, claimed that Sir Keir had “abandoned traditional Labor values”.

Councilors highlighted issues such as means testing for winter fuel payments, as well as changes to the state pension age and the “betrayal” of Waspi women affected by the response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

This constituency was won by Labour’s Juliet Campbell in a landslide in July 2024.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for snow and ice for most parts of England and Wales from midday tomorrow (Saturday) until midnight Sunday.

Colder arctic air will move in tomorrow, with rain turning to heavy snow across England and Wales, with up to 2 inches expected to fall in parts of Wales, the Midlands and northern England. Even in London, where it rarely snows, there is a chance it will snow.

However, in the more mountainous areas of Wales and the Pennines, high-altitude snowstorms could dump up to 1ft 3in.

Forecasters said the heavy snowfall could cause travel disruptions, power outages and the risk of cutting off some rural areas.

Average temperatures in England and Wales today are between 3°C (37°C) and 6°C (43°C), with temperatures dropping below freezing at night and as low as -10°C (14°C) in snowy parts of Scotland. Probably.

Regarding the situation in Scotland, a Met Office spokesperson said: “After a cold night, temperatures will be slow to rise above freezing today, but some parts of the west could see temperatures of 4C or 5C. ” he said.

“A low-pressure system is approaching from the southwest, causing unstable conditions over the weekend, with snow and ice warnings in place for much of Scotland. Many people will return to travel and work on Monday. With this in mind, the warning remains in place until midday as conditions may affect roads.

“Temperature may drop to -5℃.”Snowfall amount 2cm to 3cm [1in to 2in] A maximum of 10cm to 20cm is expected. [4in to 8in] It’s on a hill.

“Drivers should use caution, prepare for their trip and leave in plenty of time.”

London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said the capital’s city center will be closed to protect rough sleepers as temperatures plunged to -2C (28C) overnight in London and -4C (25C) near Southampton on the south coast. He said severe weather emergency protocols had been activated.

According to Japan Meteorological Agency statistics, this cold weather is a complete change from December, which was the fifth warmest month on record.

It also comes as severe flooding is occurring in the north of England, with large-scale clean-up efforts in parts of Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Yorkshire at risk of being disrupted due to the danger of freezing. be.

More than a month’s worth of rain fell on the region in 48 hours.

A major incident was declared in Greater Manchester on New Year’s Day, with emergency services taking 36 hours to evacuate more than 1,300 people from their homes.

Around 16,000 people lost power, major roads were flooded, cars submerged and millions of pounds worth of damage was caused.

In Cheshire, the Bridgewater Canal embankment burst at Little Bollington, flooding surrounding fields and causing further road closures and property evictions.

Greater Manchester’s Major Andy Burnham says “once in 100 year” weather events are occurring more frequently and should raise questions about why residents are receiving little or no warning of rising flood waters. said.

Train services have already been suspended due to the rainy weather. The Far North Line between Inverness and Wick has been suspended, with operator ScotRail saying: “We are dealing with three landslides: Lairg-Loggart; And in Beaulieu.

The line was also closed due to flooding in Beauly. We will provide more details on the progress of the repair at a later date. ”

The Highland Main Line remained closed yesterday due to flooding caused by heavy rain in the Kingussie area.

Network Rail Scotland said engineers were waiting for water levels at Barraville Burn to recede so they could inspect the bridge.