The areas worst hit by energy price hike - is Newcastle one of them?

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that those living in Newcastle are spending a sizeable of amount of their weekly income on energy.

Research conducted by Boiler Central has looked into the proportion of the average weekly household budget that is spent on energy throughout the United Kingdom compared to London.

The information shows that Scotland and Northern Ireland are the worst hit areas, spending between 40-50% more of their weekly budget on energy than Londoners.

Birmingham and Liverpool have also been hit hard by the crisis as the average household spends around a half of their weekly budget on gas and electricity.

The situation is slightly better in more northern regions of England, especially Newcastle where Geordies are spending between 20-30%.

In comparison, areas closer to the capital such as Kent and East Anglia are spending just 10%.

On average, Scots spend 5.5% of their weekly budget on energy, compared to those from London who spend 3.9%.

The areas that have been worst affected by the rising energy prices not only have lower average weekly earnings than London, but are also typically colder which means that more energy is required to keep warm.

This comes after an emerging energy crisis that has hit the UK in recent months, leading to the collapse of 26 suppliers.

In what has been branded by many as a ‘national crisis’, some families across the country have been left to decide between heating and eating this winter.

To make matters worse, some experts are predicting that the average household will have to part with more than £2,000 on energy bills in 2022.

This is expected to come into effect when the price cap for energy spending goes up in April and consumers will be able to find out how much it will increase by in February - it is expected to rise by a couple hundred pounds on average.