Fuel bills 'to rise £60', report suggests

It said the average 3-a-day cost of heating a home is likely to increase by 1 a day as households respond to the drop in temperatures.

But thousands of Scots eligible for cold weather payments are beginning to receive freezing weather top-ups. Cold weather payments of 25 are paid out for every seven-day period in which temperatures are recorded as - or predicted to be below - zero.

Payments have already been triggered in several weather station areas in Scotland, with some, including Braemar, Tulloch Bridge and Aviemore already triggering two payments.