Warning issued over ‘concerningly low’ gasoline ranges amid fears ice blast will ship temperatures plunging to -20C

Britain’s gas supply has reached ‘concerningly low’ levels and could run out in a matter of days after an Arctic blast sent temperatures plunging.  

The icy weather over the last few days has seen demand for gas-fired power station skyrocket, energy firm Centrica said. 

Now it’s feared a fresh blast of freezing weather – which could send temperatures plunging to -20C – could trigger an energy crisis. 

The UK is heavily reliant on natural gas to keep the homes of millions of Brits warm during the winter. It also uses a significant amount to power the electricity grid. 

But as of Thursday. storage sites across the UK were 26 per cent down on last year’s supply, leaving them around ‘half full’, Centrica said. 

‘This means the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store,’ the energy giant added.

The looming crisis has been played down by the Government, with a No10 spokesman saying: ‘We are confident we will have a sufficient gas supply and electricity capacity to meet demand this winter, due to our diverse and resilient energy system.

‘We speak regularly with the National Energy System Operator to monitor our energy security and ensure they have all tools at their disposal – if needed – to secure our supply.

Britain’s gas supply has reached concerningly low levels following days of icy weather and snow (pictured are people walking through the snow on Thursday)

Despite being full ahead of winter, current gas inventory at Rough, the country’s largest gas storage site (pictured), is 20 per cent lower than at the same time last year

Gas storage was already lower than usual heading into December as a result of the early onset of winter. 

Combined with stubbornly high gas prices, this has meant that it has been more difficult to top up storage over Christmas. 

This, combined with the ongoing icy conditions and the end of Russian gas pipeline supplies through Ukraine on December 31, has meant that gas inventory across the UK are now reaching crisis levels. 

Despite being full ahead of winter, current gas inventory at Rough, the country’s largest gas storage site, which is operated by Centrica, is 20 per cent lower than at the same time last year. 

Rough has played a crucial role so far this winter by supplying almost 420 million cubic meters (mcm) of gas since early November, enough to heat three million homes every day. 

‘The UK’s gas storage levels are concerningly low. We are an outlier from the rest of Europe when it comes to the role of storage in our energy system and we are now seeing the implications of that’ Chris O’Shea, Centrica’s group chief executive said.

‘Energy storage is what keeps the lights on and homes warm when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, so investing in our storage capacity makes perfect economic sense. We need to think of storage as a very valuable insurance policy.’

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.