Just as everyone was thinking the heating could be turned off until the autumn, winter returned with a vengeance yesterday with snow and biting winds across the country. The cold weather could hardly have come at a worse time: today the cap that has artificially depressed domestic energy bills is to be revised upwards.

The debate about higher gas and electricity charges has been raging for weeks yet only now will the financial pain be felt. The cap for prepayment customers is to rise from £1,309 to £2,017 while an increase of around £700 is in store for those on a default tariff paying through direct debit. These are significant sums for people to find at a time when other costs are also rising rapidly. Pensioners and others on fixed incomes will be hard hit but so, too, will earners whose tax allowances are being frozen at the same time.

The Chancellor has offered some help but nowhere near enough to cover the extra charges. But nor should he. The idea that billions can always be borrowed and dispensed for every eventuality took hold in the pandemic but is simply not sustainable. Higher energy costs will have to be paid by consumers – and another shock is in store later this year when the cap is revised again.

The alternatives are to exploit our own supplies of oil and gas, though as these commodities are traded internationally it won’t necessarily mean lower prices. But it will offer greater security of supply, as would a commitment to renewable forms other than wind such as nuclear. We still await the energy strategy Boris Johnson promised a few weeks ago and which urgently needs to set out a long-term plan for the country. In the short-term, the chill financial winds are about to be felt.