Plunge in temperature triggers first cold weather payments of winter

The recent plunge in temperature has triggered the first cold weather payments of the winter in Wales.

Some 673,000 eligible people across Wales and England will receive the UK Government payment in areas of the country that met the threshold in the week ending January 2.

Each payment is worth £25, suggesting the overall cost will be £16.8 million.

The scheme is run by the Department for Work & Pensions and is targeted at people on benefits who are considered most vulnerable to the cold, including older residents receiving pension credit and universal credit claimants who meet certain conditions.

Payments are triggered by the average temperature measured by the Met Office at 71 weather stations across England and Wales.

Each residential postcode in the country is linked to one of these weather stations.

A payment of £25 is automatically made to eligible recipients within the area of each weather station where the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below over seven consecutive days.

People should then receive the payment within 14 days.

The cold weather payment scheme for England and Wales runs from November 1 to March 31 each year, but this is the first time payments have been made during the 2025/26 season.

A total of 17 out of the Met Office’s 71 weather stations triggered the payment during the week ending January 2, including the stations at Bingley near Bradford in West Yorkshire (105,000 payments) and Rothamsted at Harpenden in Hertfordshire (73,000).

Some 4.4 million people in England and Wales are eligible for cold weather payments this winter, including 1.2 million recipients of pension credit.

Separate schemes are in place for residents of Scotland and Northern Ireland.