Fuel poverty occurs when a household cannot pay for adequate energy services (such as warmth, hot water and lighting) using 10% or less of its income. Around 20% of all households in the UK suffer from fuel poverty and the number is rising as fuel prices rise.
One of the symptoms of fuel poverty is the number of excess winter deaths: the number of people who die between December and March from cold-related ill health. This is usually about 20,000 people each winter (over four times the number killed on the road annually), but in winter 2008/09, the number increased by 49% to 36,700. The figure for 2009/10 was 25,400 — considerably lower — partly because there were fewer deaths from f lu, despite the winter being almost 13% colder (as measured in degree days in Oxford). Cold weather and cold homes result in a lot of discomfort, hardship, illness and death.
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