Leeds households receive just one Cold Weather Payment in three winters - as scheme returns today
Other parts of the country have received up to £200
People in Leeds have received just one £25 Cold Weather Payment over the last three winters, while some parts of the country have received up to £200, new figures show.
The figures reveal how households in the city have received far less help through the Government's Cold Weather Payment scheme than those living in some of the coldest parts of England.
People in Leeds, Wakefield and York received just one payment between the winters of 2023/24 and 2025/26, meaning eligible households in the area received £25 in total.
By comparison, people in Kendal, Penrith, Keswick and Windermere received eight payments over the same period, worth £200.
The scheme has reopened today (Sunday November 1) and eligible households will £25 for every seven-day period when the average temperature in their area is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0C or below.
Energy bill support company Ex Felons Support analysed Government figures covering the 71 weather stations used by the scheme over the last three winters to identify the areas receiving the most and least payments.
How Leeds compares with other areas
The figures show a significant difference in the number of payments triggered across the country.
While Leeds, Wakefield and York recorded just one payment, the areas around Bradford, Halifax, Keighley and Burnley received four payments, worth £100.
Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Wigan and Warrington recorded three payments, worth £75 per eligible household.
The North West also received the largest overall share of Cold Weather Payment funding, with around 683,000 payments worth approximately £17m made across the Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Wigan and Warrington area.
Birmingham and Leeds were among the areas to record a single payment in the winter of 2024/25, while Newcastle and Teesside triggered their only payment last January.
Some of Britain's biggest cities received nothing over the three winters, including London, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol and Cardiff.
The Department for Work and Pensions estimates it made just over four million Cold Weather Payments during the three winters, worth around £100m.
Last winter, all payments were triggered by a single cold spell in early January.
Who is eligible for Cold Weather Payments?
The £25 payments are available to eligible people living in England and Wales who receive certain benefits.
You may qualify if you receive:
- Pension Credit
- Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Support for Mortgage Interest
- Universal Credit
For people claiming Universal Credit, there are additional conditions.
You will usually need to be out of work, as must your partner if you have one, and have either limited capability for work or a child under five living with you.
However, households receiving the disabled child addition as part of their Universal Credit claim can qualify regardless of whether they are working.
How to get your £25 Cold Weather Payment
There is no need to apply for a Cold Weather Payment. If you qualify, the money should be paid automatically into the same bank or building society account as your benefits, usually within 14 working days of a qualifying cold spell.
However, it is important to make sure your circumstances are up to date.
If you have a baby or a child under five comes to live with you, you should report this through your Universal Credit account or contact Jobcentre Plus if you receive ESA. Otherwise, you may miss out on an automatic payment.
If you believe you should have received a payment but it has not arrived, you should contact the Pension Service or Jobcentre Plus.
Full list of Cold Weather Payments by area
The following figures show the number of £25 payments triggered by each weather station area over the three winters from 2023/24 to 2025/26.
- Eight payments (£200): Kendal, Penrith, Keswick and Windermere.
- Six payments (£150): Haltwhistle, Alston and Bellingham.
- Four payments (£100): Bradford, Halifax, Keighley and Burnley; Bolton, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale; Durham and Bishop Auckland; Leek, Buxton and Glossop; Carlisle; Skipton and Barnard Castle; Berwick-upon-Tweed.
- Three payments (£75): Manchester, Salford, Stockport, Wigan and Warrington; Crawley, Horsham, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells; Shrewsbury and Telford; King's Lynn and Ely; High Wycombe and Aylesbury; Llandrindod Wells and Builth Wells.
- Two payments (£50): Merthyr Tydfil, Pontypridd and Caerphilly; Ipswich and Colchester; Stoke-on-Trent and Crewe; Norwich; Cambridge and Chelmsford; Milton Keynes and Bedford; Peterborough and Kettering; Northampton; Darlington and Northallerton; Banbury; Welshpool and Newtown.
- One payment (£25): Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton; Leeds, Wakefield and York; Newcastle and Sunderland; Middlesbrough and Hartlepool; St Albans, Luton and Watford; Blackburn and Preston; Bournemouth and Poole; Oxford.
- No payments: London; Liverpool and Blackpool; Sheffield and Doncaster; Nottingham, Derby and Leicester; Bristol and Newport; Cardiff and Swansea; Southampton, Portsmouth and Brighton; Reading and Guildford; Southend and Medway; Hull; Lincoln and Grimsby; Gloucester, Cheltenham and Worcester; Exeter, Plymouth and Cornwall; Canterbury and Dover; Swindon and Bath; Taunton and Yeovil; Chester and Wrexham; Lancaster and Barrow; Eastbourne and Hastings; Salisbury and Andover; Barnstaple, Tiverton and Okehampton; Honiton and Bridport; Weymouth; Workington and Whitehaven; Anglesey, Bangor and Llandudno; Aberystwyth and Cardigan; Betws-y-Coed; the Isles of Scilly.
The figures are based on Department for Work and Pensions estimates by weather station for the winters of 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26.
Each payment represents a trigger at a local weather station, with the estimated number of eligible people used to calculate the total funding. Postcodes linked to some stations can change slightly from year to year.