The cost of living crisis has placed a huge strain on British household finances this year, with the coming cold weather likely to mean more hardship for many who are already facing gas and electricity bills twice as high as they were last year.
The UK rate of inflation stands at 11.1 per cent, food prices have rocketed, the Bank of England has set interest rates at 3 per cent and Jeremy Hunt delivered a bleak Autumn Statement introducing a package of tax rises worth £24bn and spending cuts of £30bn - all of which threatens to make for a bleak midwinter.
