Winter boiler breakdowns: British Gas predicting 120,000 call outs in the next two weeks as Arctic air blasts UK

Two years ago, as the “Beast from the East” blanketed the country in snow, the British Gas helpline received an average of 104 calls every second from people needing help with their heating and hot water systems.

Now engineers are urging people to make sure their homes are ready for winter, as Britain prepares for what forecasters predict could be the ‘coldest winter in 50 years’.