The DWP has triggered new Cold Weather Payments for people living in 51 postcode areas, it was announced today (Thursday). Around 95,000 eligible households in these regions will receive a £25 payment towards the extra cost of heating their homes during the current cold snap.
The new payments will cover 45 postcode areas around West Yorkshire, including Bradford, Halifax, and Huddersfield, and extend into parts of East Lancashire, including Burnley. Eligible households in another six postcode districts in North Yorkshire and County Durham will also receive the payments.
Temperatures will continue to fall over the coming days, with the mercury potentially reaching minus 20C in northern parts of the UK on Friday night, the Met Office has forecast. Weather warnings for ice are in place across the majority of Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as large parts of the east of England, until 10am on Friday.
Wednesday’s lowest overnight temperature was minus 12.4C in Inverness-shire and the Met Office has forecast that lower valleys in Scotland could reach between minus 12C and minus 16C on Thursday night. Met Office meteorologist Liam Eslick said: “It’s going to be another cold couple of days, and recovering into the early part of next week. Anywhere across the UK is likely to see those temperatures dipping below freezing and likely to see quite severe frost and ice to form overnight tonight.”
The latest payments were triggered by a seven-day period of subzero temperatures in these areas which started on 4th January and extends until Saturday.
The full list of new postcodes where payments were triggered on 4th January are:
BB4 Rawtenstall, LancashireBB8 Newchurch, LancashireBB9 Newchurch, LancashireBB10 Burnley, LancashireBB11 Burnley, LancashireBB12 Ightenhill, LancashireBB18 Salterforth, LancashireBD1 Bradford city centreBD2 Eccleshill, BradfordBD3 Barkerend, BradfordBD4 Bierley, BradfordBD5 Bankfoot, BradfordBD6 Buttershaw, BradfordBD7 Great Horton, BradfordBD8 Manningham, BradfordBD9 Frizinghall, BradfordBD10 Apperley Bridge, BradfordBD11 Adwalton, BradfordBD12 Low Moor, BradfordBD13 Queensbury, BradfordBD14 Clayton, BradfordBD15 Allerton, BradfordBD16 BingleyBD17 ShipleyBD18 Saltaire, ShipleyBD19 CleckheatonBD20 KeighleyBD21 Hainworth, KeighleyBD22 Cowling, KeighleyHD3 Huddersfield, KirkleesHD7 Huddersfield, KirkleesHD8 Kirkburton, KirkleesHD9 Holme, KirkleesHX1 Halifax, CalderdaleHX2 Halifax, CalderdaleHX3 Halifax, CalderdaleHX4 Halifax, CalderdaleHX5 Halifax, CalderdaleHX6 Halifax, CalderdaleHX7 Hebden Royd, CalderdaleLS21 Otley, LeedsLS29 Ilkley, BradfordOL13 Rawtenstall, LancashireOL14 Todmorden, CalderdaleS36 Hunshelf, Barnsley
BD23 Thorlby, North YorkshireBD24 Langcliffe, North YorkshireDL8 Spennithorne, North YorkshireDL11 Marske, North YorkshireDL12 Cotherstone, County DurhamDL13 Stanhope, County Durham
A total of more than 100,000 households have been eligible for Cold Weather Payments this winter so far.
You can check payments for your postcode area on our interactive map here:
Previously two separate payments totalling £50 were made to around 10,000 households in 18 postcode areas in Cumbria and Northumberland.#
A further eight postcode areas in Northern Ireland have also received a single £25 Cold Weather Payment under a similar separate scheme which is operated by the Northern Ireland Executive, and not the DWP.The payments there were triggered on the 4th January and covered these postcode areas:BT24 BallynahinchBT25 DromoreBT26 HillsboroughBT30 DownpatrickBT31 CastlewellanBT32 BanbridgeBT33 Newcastle, Co DownBT34 Newry, South Down
Cold Weather Payments are made to people in England and Wales who receive a range of benefits. A separate scheme is operated in Northern Ireland along similar lines but in Scotland the support for heating bills is paid every winter and not linked to specific spells of cold weather.
There are an estimated 3.9 million people eligible for Cold Weather Payments under the DWP scheme and of these 1.2 million are in receipt of Pensions Credit.
Last year there were 364,000 payments made across England and Wales at a total cost of £9.1 million. In some areas of Cumbria, the Cold Weather Payments were triggered three times during separate spells of freezing weather last winter, meaning eligible recipients were paid £75 in total.
The DWP says those claiming the following benefits may be eligible for the Cold Weather Payment; Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit, Support for Mortgage Interest.
Not all those receiving these benefits will automatically receive a Cold Weather Payment. There are a number of factors which will determine whether a payment will be made and full details of those eligible are here: https://www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment/eligibility