Mid-winter cold and expensive electricity: a million pensioners fear they can’t heat their homes

NewImageI’m sure it’s just a matter of the survival of the fittest. The Greens can afford expensive energy; the elderly cannot. That will save them on insurance costs </sarcasm>

Wholesale gas and electricity prices have risen between 30 and 40 per cent over the past three-to-five months in the UK according to Bobby Kalar, the boss of Yu energy.

Not surprisingly, pensioners in the UK say they are cutting back on food so they can afford to keep the heat on. Still, their sacrifices will mean the world will be 0.00C cooler in 2100. Hard to argue with that.

Express UK

WINTER CRISIS: One MILLION pensioners fear they cannot afford to heat their homes

And a third will be forced to ration their heating in a bid to keep the bills down, according to a new survey.

Of Britain’s 11.5m over 65s, nearly one in ten (nine per cent) are anticipating either a new health problem or the worsening of a current condition, like arthritis, as they struggle with the cold.

As many as 90 per cent of the 2,000 pensioners surveyed by comparison website comparethemarket.com believe the high cost of gas and electricity presents a real health threat to elderly people living in the UK.

At this minute the UK is apparently a balmy 5C. Parts of Canada and Alaska are minus 40. Siberia, minus 44C. I wouldn’t want to be a pensioner living in the highlands of Greenland though, where it is minus 54C right now.

 FergusFallsJournal has a list of things to keep in the car in winter in case you get stranded. Conversely, in Pakistan, the news tells mothers how to spot when pneumonia in children requires a hospital visit. Two hospitals in Rawalpindi report that 500 children a day are being admitted  suffering from pneumonia. Apparently, ninety thousand children a year die of pneumonia in Pakistan every year. Puts things in perspective.

Right-Mind