Cold weather payments will be made to households across Powys due to the freezing weather conditions in the county.

The UK Government has confirmed thousands of households in England and Wales will be eligible for cold weather payments - and that they will be made to households in Powys.

These will be made to vulnerable people, including pensioners, to help them pay for heating when the temperature dips below freezing.

The payments go to those living in an area where the average temperature is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C or below over seven consecutive days.

Payments will be made to homes across Cumbria, Oxfordshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, Norfolk, and Staffordshire in England, and Powys in Wales.

The UK Health Security Agency has issued a cold-health alert, which warns of possible impacts for the health and social care sector.

OTHER NEWS:

National Highways has put in place a severe weather alert for snow affecting north-west England on Tuesday, with road users advised to plan ahead and some rural communities warned they could be temporarily cut off.

Met Office chief meteorologist Andy Page said: “There will be widespread frost this week and we could see some fairly deep laying snow in parts of northern UK and strong winds could result in drifting or blizzard conditions at times.

“The snow and ice will be disruptive and could potentially impact travel plans, make driving dangerous and pavements slippery.”

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Nick Silkstone said: “The track of this system still has some small but all-important uncertainties tied to its northern extent, and it has the potential to bring some snow to southern England.

“However, our preferred solution suggests minimal snowfall (a couple of cm at most) across parts of the extreme south of England in association with this system, but we are keeping an eye on how things develop and will update the forecast as needed.”