Winter Heating Payment replaced Cold Weather Payments in Scotland

A new benefit, the Winter Heating Payment, replaced the Cold Weather Payment in Scotland from winter 2022/23, and the Department for Work and Pensions no longer makes Cold Weather Payments to claimants in Scotland¹. The change means Scottish households receive a single annual payment rather than a sum triggered by cold weather.

The Winter Heating Payment in Scotland is a single, annual payment of £59.75 to all eligible households for winter 2025/26, and payments should be made automatically between December and February¹. Unlike the Cold Weather Payment, eligibility does not depend on a period of cold weather where the household lives¹.

Cold Weather Payments continue in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. They are made to certain recipients of means-tested benefits during periods of very cold weather, at £25 for each week of cold weather, under a scheme that runs from 1 November to 31 March each winter¹. Households qualify for a week of cold weather if they get Pension Credit, or certain awards of Universal Credit, income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Support for Mortgage Interest¹. The scheme links postcode districts to weather stations, and payments are triggered where the average temperature at the linked station is recorded as, or forecast to be, 0°C or below for seven consecutive days¹.

The two schemes differ in how the money is calculated and when it arrives.

The Scottish Government has also introduced the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, administered by Social Security Scotland, to replace the Winter Fuel Payment in Scotland¹. For winter 2025/26 the rates are £203.40 per eligible household where the oldest person is under 80, and £305.10 where the household contains a person aged 80 or over¹. As with the Winter Fuel Payment, HMRC will recoup any Pension Age Winter Heating Payment received for winter 2025/26 where an individual's taxable income is over £35,000 for that tax year¹. The Scottish Government introduced Child Winter Heating Assistance in 2020¹.

Why it matters for households

For a household in Scotland, the shift removes the link between payment and local temperature. A cold spell that would have triggered £25 for each qualifying week in England, Wales or Northern Ireland produces no additional payment north of the border; the £59.75 annual sum is paid regardless of the weather¹. That makes the Scottish payment predictable in timing and amount, but it does not rise when a winter is colder or longer than usual.

For households elsewhere in Great Britain, the position is unchanged: entitlement depends on benefit receipt and on temperatures recorded or forecast at a linked weather station, and a qualifying week is worth £25¹. Because the trigger is measured at weather stations rather than at individual homes, two households on the same benefit in different postcode districts can receive different amounts in the same winter.

The wider landscape of winter support also differs by nation. The Winter Fuel Payment remains an annual lump sum for older people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, administered by the DWP in England and Wales and by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland¹. The Warm Home Discount provides £150 off electricity bills between October and March for eligible customers in England, Wales and Scotland¹.

What happens next

Winter Heating Payments for winter 2025/26 should be made automatically between December and February¹. Cold Weather Payments can be triggered at any point in the 1 November to 31 March scheme period¹. People in England and Wales can check whether payments have been triggered where they live using a postcode checker on gov.uk¹.

Sources1 cited

1. [](https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06163/SN06163.pdf), researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk