I’m allergic to the COLD… this new energy price hike could make my life hell

A MUM who is allergic to the cold fears the new energy bill price hike will make her life hell.

Nyree Clark, from Derbyshire, suffers from painful rashes all over her body and breathing difficulties when temperatures plunge because of a rare condition known as Severe Idiopathic Cold Urticaria.

The mum-of-two, who has suffered from the illness for ten years, needs to keep her home at 20C to prevent her from potentially going into anaphylactic shock.

Nyree says she already struggles to stretch her wages to cover bills and worries she may fall into debt as the fresh energy price cap, which comes into effect on April 1, will take the average household bill to £1,971 a year.

The 40-year-old has now been forced to drop her heating to a "dangerous" level to stay on top of her bills.

"For a lot of suffers, it's going to become a life-or-death situation," she said.

"It's scary, obviously. We are having to reduce the heating. It puts us in the danger zone as the house has to be kept at 20C.

"We have lowered it down, and it's not fun. Yesterday, I was sat in a scarf and woolly hat as I have to keep at a certain temperature."

Nyree, an NHS worker from Chesterfield, said that she first found out she had the chronic illness in 2012, after going for a dip in the sea.

She said: "I went in the sea, and when I came out, my legs were all hived up.