BRITAIN

÷ set a record at the weekend as the National Grid went coal-free for 100 hours.

Coal now accounts for less 10 per cent of the country’s power output as more wind and solar energy is harnessed.

The UK has already had more than 1,000 coal-free hours this year, and should far exceed the 1,800 hours generated over the whole of 2018.

Ministers plan to phase out Britain’s last coal-fired power plants by 2025 to cut carbon emissions. A National Grid spokesman said: ‘We believe that by 2025 we will be able to operate Britain’s electricity system with zero carbon.’