Overview
- The week ending January 2 met the criteria at selected Met Office stations, prompting payments worth about £16.8 million in total.
- Triggers occur when the Met Office records or forecasts average temperatures of 0°C or below for seven consecutive days at one of 71 linked stations.
- Payments are made automatically into bank accounts with a reference including the customer’s National Insurance number followed by “DWP CWP”.
- Areas can qualify more than once in a season, with reports of 697 postcode areas triggered so far and some districts receiving two payments after continuing cold spells.
- England and Wales use the temperature‑linked scheme, Scotland pays a separate fixed Winter Heating Payment, and Northern Ireland runs a similar cold‑weather payment system.