Weekly UK energy bill to hit £100

FAMILIES face landmark £100a-week energy bills next month, with millions turning the heating on as prices soar by 27 per cent.

Yesterday’s price cap rise from £1,971 to £2,500 means average weekly gas and electricity use will leap from the £75 a week it would have cost to £100 or more next month when boilers are on longer.

British Gas defines average energy use as two or three people in a three-bedroom house – but a family of four could pay £120 weekly.

The Government’s £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme works out at a discount of £7 per week over a year, so many families’ bills will still be £100 in cold weeks.

Some £2.8billion will be spent weekly on energy bills across Britain’s 28million households as winter bites, close to double the amount paid in cold weeks last winter. Peter Smith, of the charity National Energy Action, said: ‘Some people will simply not turn the heating on.’

The Government said: ‘The Energy Price Guarantee of £2,500 saves the average household £1,000, in addition to the £400 discount.’