A major incident has been declared in Sheffield as thousands of homes have been left without gas for five days amid a devastating cold snap.
People in the Stannington area of the South Yorkshire city were affected on Friday when a burst water main damaged a gas pipe, sending hundreds of thousands of litres of water into the gas network.
More than 100 engineers from gas firm Cadent have been working in Stannington and neighbouring Hillsborough since the weekend, going house to house to flush water out of the system and check homes, some of which saw liquid pouring from their gas meters and appliances.
Around 2,000 homes have been affected in the suburb, which rises to around 800ft above sea level.
As temperatures dropped below freezing on Tuesday night, Sheffield City Council declared a major incident so services can be concentrated in the area.
Council leader Terry Fox said: "Over the weekend we were alerted to a contained situation and have been assisting Cadent as best we can.
"Since then, the incident has progressed and spread further across the city.
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"With a colder spell due in the coming days it is important we and other organisations across the city collaborate to ensure all the residents affected are provided with the support they require, especially the most vulnerable.
"By declaring a major incident, we will be better able to coordinate the overall response to the issues and call on additional support if needed."
Mr Fox visited Stannington on Tuesday along with council chief executive Kate Josephs.
Ms Josephs said community buildings, including a pub, were available for those struggling to keep warm.
She told BBC Radio Sheffield: "We'd really encourage anyone who is concerned to call Cadent.
"Nobody should be sitting at home worrying about putting their heaters on."
She added: "It is getting chilly. We're doing everything we can and Cadent are working tirelessly through day and night to get the water out of the pipes and get the heating back on."
Olivia Blake, Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, said she has asked Chancellor Jeremy Hunt for emergency funding for the council.
She said: "I have further meetings planned with Yorkshire Water and I am in ongoing talks with the leadership of the council on getting support to residents.
"I have also spoken directly with the Chancellor of the Exchequer urging him to provide emergency funding to the council and have written to him formally, alongside the secretaries of state for Business, for the Environment, and for Levelling-up, to request urgent assistance.
"My heart goes out to all those affected - this is a terrible thing to happen at any time, let alone weeks before the holiday season."
Council leaders have said they are "deeply concerned" about plummeting temperatures.
Wednesday night is expected to be even colder than Tuesday, with forecasters expecting an overnight low of around minus 4 degrees Celsius, and snow possible later in the week.
Cadent - the firm which runs the gas network - said it has 150 people working day and night in the area and has begun to reconnect some homes.
Mark and Emmy Street, who have a five-month-old daughter, Olivia, have also been affected.
The dad said he was concerned about how to feed his daughter.
Stannington resident Christine Vickers said: "We're worrying because the temperatures are dropping quite drastically.
"We get a lot of snow up here in Stannington and they are forecasting snow.
"So, a lot of people are getting concerned that we've not got showers and heating and everything for when the snow comes."
Ms Vickers said the elderly people she looks after in a sheltered housing block are worried about their electricity bills as they are using heaters to keep warm.
She said: "I've been saying to them: 'Please use your heating, don't get cold and you'll get some compensation.'
"But they are all worrying. They're worrying about their bills."
Some locals said they were shocked on Friday night to be woken by water pouring out of boilers, cookers and gas meters.
Tim Jones said he has been looking after his 78-year-old mother who is recovering from cancer in her Stannington maisonette and has received electrical appliances from Cadent, including an electric blanket.
Mr Jones said: "I know Sheffield City Council has made it a national emergency and the Red Cross have been drafted in.
"When the Red Cross get drafted in, it's usually a serious incident."
Speaking at the community centre which has become the focus for the response, Sheffield City Council leader Terry Fox said the authority has declared a major incident so it could redeploy staff to the area.
Asked about the approaching cold snap, Mr Fox said: "We're very worried. That's why we called the major incident.
"But, what we've seen, to be brutally frank, is a real deep community spirit where people are helping individuals."
The councillor said: "So we're deeply concerned and that's why we're working and deploying staff around the area."
Sheffield Hallam's Labour MP Olivia Blake has said she has asked Chancellor Jeremy Hunt for emergency funding for the council and she raised the issue in the Commons on Wednesday.
Raising a point of order, Ms Blake said she was "yet to receive a response" to her letter to ministers asking for help with the incident.
She told MPs: "This is a huge effort, this has resulted in water flowing out of people's ovens, flowing out of people's fires, flowing out of their boilers which should be sealed, and getting past the water meters.
"This is an unprecedented and novel - it has been described to me - incident which really needs some support and action to make sure that we have the right infrastructure on the ground and I don't think it can be left to the local authorities to organise that."
Cadent spokeswoman Stephanie Van Rosse said around a quarter of the affected properties had been reconnected and she was hopeful the majority of households will be reconnected in the next two to three days.
Ms Van Rosse said the key part of the operation was getting the water out of the gas pipes and she said there were now 15 tankers in Stannington with engineers pumping around 200,000 litres a day.
She said: "We should get people back on over the next two or three days.
"Please bear with us. We know it's cold but we are doing everything we can to get you back on gas as quickly as possible."
Ms Van Rosse said the priority has been to look after the elderly and vulnerable and staff have been going from house-to-house to check on residents and hand out appliances.
Some locals said they have been told to try and limit non-essential electricity use due to the amount of appliances being switched on and some streets have seen blackouts.
Many residents blamed Yorkshire Water for the incident, saying the water main burst near the Rose and Crown pub was the latest in a series in the village.
Yorkshire Water said in a statement: "Burst pipes can happen for a number of reasons - often related to a change in temperature or pressure within the pipe. We constantly monitor our pipes so that we can reduce the risk of bursts, and the pipe in Stannington hasn't burst in almost a decade.
"Unfortunately, on this occasion, the burst water main has impacted gas pipes that were laid nearby.
"Cadent, with the support of our teams and service partners, are working around the clock to pump water out of the gas pipes and ensure it is safe to reconnect supply to customers properties."
Cold conditions are expected to turn even colder across much of the UK later on Wednesday and through to Thursday as air from the Arctic spreads south across the country.
Frosty nights are expected, with subzero temperatures and widespread frosts which could be severe in some areas.
Daytime temperatures are expected to linger near or just above freezing, with overnight temperatures continuing to drop further.
Some coastal areas are likely to be lashed with wintry showers which could push inland with a risk of icy patches.
A Met Office spokesperson said: "Look out for friends and family who may be vulnerable to the cold, and ensure they have access to warm food and drinks and are managing to heat their homes adequately."
"Try to maintain indoor temperatures to at least 18°C, particularly if you are not mobile, have a long-term illness or are 65 or over.
"Avoid exposing yourself to cold or icy outdoor conditions if you are at a higher risk of cold-related illness or falls and stay up to date with the latest weather forecasts on the Met Office website."
