Costs surged by 37 percent in a few hours and are now 600 percent higher than in January.

       The wholesale gas price for day-ahead delivery outstripped the ￡3 per therm - the energy output of a unit of gas - level for the first time hitting ￡3.50.

       Bills have increased for more than 15 million households by an average ￡140 in the year to April 2022. If gas remains at this level the average family bill could jump by as much as a third, or ￡420, to almost ￡1,700 a year from April.

       Tom Marzec-Manser, an analyst at ICIS, said: "Almost impossible to even justify or qualify how and why the price is moving so fast and so high." Prices are being driven higher by lower production levels, rising demand, a lack of wind required to power turbines and forecasts of a cold winter.

       Vladimir Putin yesterday hinted Russia's statebacked Gazprom could increase supplies to help Britain and Europe avoid a full-blown energy crisis.