The U.K. is one the world's richest countries, but people are finding it increasingly difficult to pay energy bills. Electricity and gas bills could rise fourfold the winter. Even people good salaries are feeling the pinch. Lower-paid workers and those who have retired may soon be faced a stark choice of heating or eating. Local governments have devised a makeshift solution. They are converting communal areas libraries into spaces where people can go to stay warm free. These are called "heat banks". Money-saving expert Martin Lewis said he is dumbfounded the idea of warm banks a supposedly wealthy country. The U.K. already has hundreds food banks those who struggle to afford to eat.
Britons are already taking drastic measures to avoid skyrocketing energy costs. One woman has disconnected her refrigerator and is storing perishable goods cold water. A man has turned his electric kettle and is drinking water instead hot coffee. Last winter, an older lady used her free bus pass to sit a warm bus all day instead sitting at home the cold. Many people are furious the government and fossil fuel companies. Giant oil companies are making record profits, and the government is reluctant to implement a one- "windfall tax". The U.K.'s National Energy Action group said that each year, 11,400 deaths are caused cold weather. They predict this figure will rise further this year.
