Scots told to '˜keep cooking' despite Britain's gas shortage

Households have been told to 'carry on cooking' despite the National Grid issuing a gas deficit warning as fears mount supplies could run empty and energy prices could skyrocket amid extreme weather conditions across Britain.

A gas hob with a bill from British Gas. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire

Household supplies are not expected to be affected but shortages could hit industrial users as the Grid attempts to balance supply and demand

Around 1.9 million Scottish households depend on gas as their primary heating source.

GMB Scotland Secretary Gary Smith said: “The National Grid’s decision to issue a ‘gas deficit warning’ to the market is a sobering reminder of the fragility in our domestic energy supply and should reignite the debate over our energy future.”

Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy at Warwick Business School, said: “With GB demand surging to over 400mcm a day, a loss of capacity from any source of flexible supply, due to technical problems or an inability to attract sufficient gas from European markets, can lead to a supply emergency such as we see at present. Large industrial consumers are likely to be asked to reduce their consumption, but as the cold spell continues things could get very difficult if there were technical failures on what is an aging infrastructure.”