DWP Cold Weather Payment checker as hundreds of new postcodes to get £25

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced that hundreds of more postcodes will receive a Cold Weather Payment after the recent freezing conditions.

Eligible households in 625 areas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due a payment which is paid to the most vulnerable people to help heat their homes during periods of extreme cold.

Qualifying households receive £25 when temperatures fall below 0C for seven consecutive days. To be eligible for the money you need to receive certain benefits, including pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Universal Credit, and Support for Mortgage Interest.

The first payments of the year were triggered on January 2 in areas of Cumbria and Northumberland, while the latest payments cover more than 300 postcodes, mostly in central and southern England, from January 13 to 20.

Other areas due a DWP payment include the whole of Greater Manchester, parts of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Staffordshire and areas in Northern Ireland and Wales.

The money will be paid into bank accounts automatically and appears within 14 days of each seven-day period of very cold weather. You can check if the area where you live is due a payment by entering your postcode or checking the interactive map below.

The country was gripped by a cold spell during the first two weeks of the new year, with flooded fields frozen over and large dumpings of snow.

Temperatures plummeted to minus 18.9C on Saturday morning in Altnaharra, Scotland, and it was the UK’s coldest January temperature in 15 years. The average low in northern Scotland for this time of year is about 0.3C, while for England, overnight lows are about 1.5C