Cold weather payments scheme triggered by plunging temperatures

An icy start to the year has seen the Government's cold weather payments scheme triggered for the first time this winter.

Almost £2 million has been handed out in Britain this month, most of it to people living in Scotland.

Temperatures plunged to minus 12.4C earlier this week in the Highland village of Kinbrace, the coldest of the year so far.

Some 35,000 people in Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire, have been given a total a £900,000 as part of the scheme.

Cold weather payments are automatically triggered in areas covered by one of 93 weather stations around the country when the average temperature drops, or is forecast to drop, to freezing point for seven days in a row.

The first payments were made in the week ending January 8 as the weather turned frosty following the mildest December since 1934.

The scheme runs each year between November and March.

Four years ago, almost £129 million was paid out as part of the scheme, while payouts fell to £11 million in 2014-15, reflecting milder temperatures in recent years.

After a prolonged cold spell it is set to get much warmer this weekend, with a high of 12C forecast for Friday.

The Met Office said it will become "unseasonably mild", with a high of 13C possible on Sunday in the South West, compared to the average top temperature for this time of year of 7C.