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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Sophie Buchan

When three-hour blackouts could hit the UK over winter if gas supplies crash

People in the UK have been warned they could face blackouts this winter as the cost of living crisis continues.

John Pettigrew, chief of the National Grid said that this winter, people could see this happen in the worst case scenario.

Currently people are seeing a rise in their energy bills with the likes of shopping and petrol also seeing an increase in some areas.

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It comes as the National Grid issued a warning to the country that the chances of gas shortages in winter have risen and that planned three-hour power blackouts could be imposed in some areas, in the "unlikely" event supplies of gas fall short of demand.

This is because although Britain does not import gas from Russian, it does import electricity and gas from European countries that rely on Russian gas.

So if it does happen, when can we expect this? Here's what you need to know.

When blackouts could happen in UK

Blackouts could happen in the worst case scenario if gas imports are reduced, according to experts. If it does go ahead, it will likely take place between 4pm and 7pm on weekdays, especially during periods of "really, really cold" weather during the months of January and February.

The comments were made by Pettigrew during the Financial Times' Energy Transition Summit although he remained confident that the scheduled blackouts will not be needed saying: "In the context of the terrible things that are going on in Ukraine and the consequences of that [it was] right that we set out what some of the potential risks could be."

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