No let-up as cold snap set to go on for another week

The cost of Britain's icy winter is mounting, as the elderly become prisoners in their own homes and crops are ruined
Snow on lancashire farm
Snow blankets a Lancashire farm. Photograph: John Giles/PA

Even in a country where discussing the weather is almost hardwired into its citizens' DNA, many people are struggling to make sense of the sustained icy conditions that have transformed Britain into a real-life Narnia.

The extraordinary conditions that last week saw a temperature of -22.3C registered in Altnaharra, Scotland, close to the -22.9C at the south pole, are expected to continue for another week

The extreme weather is stretching the resources – and the ingenuity – of many charities providing emergency aid to those who need it most. "As the freezing conditions continue to affect people countrywide, we are increasingly concerned about the risk to the vulnerable – such as the elderly, sick and destitute, refugees and asylum seekers," said Martin Annis, head of emergency planning at the British Red Cross.

"We have staff and volunteers out in some rural communities checking on older and vulnerable residents as well as teams giving out food parcels to destitute refugees and asylum seekers."

In Birmingham, the Refugee Service said it has seen a threefold increase in demand for food parcels, while the WRVS charity said it had mobilised 4x4 owners across the country to help get meals to vulnerable people.

The Dunkirk spirit has not gone unnoticed, with Gordon Brown praising Britons' support for "each other in times of difficulty". But the smiles that first greeted the freak weather, as children enjoyed unexpected days off school to go tobogganing and their snowed-in parents benefited from extended weekends, are quickly being replaced by more sinister concerns.

There are fears the sustained cold spell will result in a soaring death rate among the elderly. During last winter, which was unusually cold, 36,700 more people died than would normally have been expected, with the death rate almost 50% higher than the previous year. There are concerns this figure may now be surpassed this winter. Charities warn that pensioners are in danger of becoming "prisoners in their own homes" as icy weather means they are unable to get out to buy food.

Andrew Harrop, head of policy at Age Concern and Help the Aged, called on the government to increase cold weather fuel payments to pensioners as the extreme winter conditions continue.

Currently, eligible pensioners receive cold weather payments if the temperature drops below normal for more than seven consecutive days. Over-60s receive £250 in one-off winter fuel payments, while the over-80s get £400.

But Harrop said more needed to be done, given the extraordinary conditions. "Many older people will be worried about paying even higher energy bills to heat their homes," he said. "Cold weather and winter fuel payments have provided welcome extra cash to help lower-income households pay their heating costs. But these one-off payments haven't kept pace with the steep increase in energy bills over the last few years and are only a sticking plaster to the entrenched problem of fuel poverty."

So far at least 26 people are believed to have died in weather-related incidents since the cold snap began the week before Christmas. The latest are two brothers who died in hospital in Leicester after falling through ice.

As bitter winds blow into the UK from northern Europe, forecasters warn there is unlikely to be any respite in the near future. In the early hours of Saturday morning temperatures fell to -14C (7F) in Cumbria and -14.5C (6F) in Tulloch Bridge in Inverness-shire, Scotland. Elsewhere around the UK they were solidly below freezing – -7C (19F) in Manchester, -6C (21F) in Cardiff and -2C (28F) in London. Forecasters blamed the cold weather on icy blasts sweeping in from Scandinavia and Germany.

A sustained cold spell is bad news for Britain's food producers. The sub-zero temperatures have made it impossible to extract some vegetables from the ground, while the distribution of produce to retailers and essential feed to cattle is also becoming a major problem.

"We are just snatching a few hours of harvesting here and there," Roger Welberry, a Lincolnshire brussels sprouts grower, told the website "If we are lucky, we can get into the fields for two or three hours between about 10am and 2pm, but then it starts to freeze again."

Cauliflower producers are in a similar position. The vegetable can grow only in temperatures above 6C and as a result of the extreme icy conditions entire crops are now ruined. A spell of penetrating frosts followed by lengthy snowfalls has also made it impossible to extract sugar beet from the ground. While reserves of sugar are plentiful, continued difficulties for beet harvesters will inevitably have an impact on sugar producers further up the supply chain.

There are concerns, too, about Britain's potato crop. In Ireland, a major vegetable exporter to the UK, the big freeze has already destroyed £13.5m worth of potatoes and other produce, according to the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA). Some 6,000 acres of potatoes across the country remains unharvested. The IFA said growers estimate that at least 75% of crops will be lost to frost damage. In Britain, harvesting of carrots, turnips, parsnips and potatoes has been temporarily halted in several parts of the country.

Farmers are also struggling to get vital supplies of supplementary feed to stranded livestock. The RSPCA and the National Farmers' Union have opened an emergency hotline (0300 123 8424) to handle calls from worried farmers.

"While farmers are very resilient and used to coping with extreme weather conditions, the current bad weather has left some facing difficult situations and the welfare of their livestock is of paramount importance," said the chairman of the NFU's livestock board, Alistair Mackintosh.

The hotline will dispatch RSPCA staff to rescue livestock where "it is likely that in a short time an animal's distress or pain will increase significantly or even that the animal will die".

Yesterday, the weather brought further travel misery. EasyJet was forced to cancel several flights to and from UK airports, while British Airways cancelled around 50 flights from Heathrow. Train passengers also experienced delays on some routes, while Eurostar operated a restricted service.

However, a spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said a "mixture of hard work and the weather being slightly more favourable" meant most companies were able to run fuller services this weekend and that many planned to be back to a full service by tomorrow. By 11 yesterday morning, 74% of trains were arriving on time.

A key transport concern, though, is the country's salt supplies, which are essential for gritting the roads. Some councils, such as Rhondda Cynon Taf in South Wales, said levels of salt supplies were "critically low".

Businesses up and down the UK are now trying to calculate the cost of the cold snap to the economy. The Federation of Small Businesses believes the final bill could total £600m a day – as much as £12.6bn for three weeks of bad weather. Figures released by market research firm Synovate show the weather is keeping shoppers away from the sales. The company claims the number of shoppers entering stores on Wednesday, when blizzards swept across many parts of the country, was down 30% on last year.

Supermarkets are reporting brisk sales of popular winter items such as soup, porridge and stewing meat. And it may not be just local councils that are close to running out of salt. Morrisons reported a 400% sales increase in cooking and table salt before Christmas, as shoppers sought to salt their paths and steps in the icy conditions.