Britain is nearly out of gas as icy weather boosts demand for heating, warned energy giant Centrica

BRITAIN is nearly out of gas as icy weather boosts demand for heating — plus a lack of domestic supplies, energy giant Centrica warned yesterday.

The country has less than a week’s worth in storage, it said.

It exposes the folly of Ed Miliband’s Clean Power plans for Britain to rely on renewable energy.

Yesterday, wind power dropped to just 16 per cent of energy for the grid while solar generation drops off as soon as it gets dark and heating demand is the greatest.

Instead, the grid was relying on gas for 53 per cent of the UK’s power system and having to pay high rates to import from abroad.

Centrica said its gas storage sites are only half full, meaning the UK has less than a week of gas demand in store.

It operates the Rough gas storage facility in the North Sea and has called on the Government to back its £2billion investment to double its capacity.

While the rest of Europe also has lower gas stored than in previous years, the UK typically only has 12 days on average — compared to France with 103 days on standby.

Chris O’Shea, of Centrica, said: “The UK’s gas storage levels are concerningly low.

“We are an outlier from the rest of Europe over storage and we are now seeing the implications of that.”

He added: “Energy storage is what keeps the lights on, so investing in capacity makes perfect economic sense.

"We need to think of storage as a very valuable insurance policy.”