Around five million Cold Weather Payments worth £130 million have been issued to households for support with energy bills this winter.
The payment from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) sees eligible households in England and Wales receive an automatic bank top-up of £25 when temperatures hit zero degrees Celsius, or below, for seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to their postcode.
Around 80% of this winter’s payments – approximately four million – were triggered in December.
