Customers seeking to submit meter readings in a last-ditch attempt to save money before the rise were foiled after the websites of British Gas, SSE, E.ON, and EDF crashed. British Gas later said that it would accept photographs of meter readings sent in the coming days.

Energy companies blamed Martin Lewis for the issues after the consumer champion encouraged people to submit their meter readings ahead of the price rise.

Mr Lewis described their claims as “risible”.

Mr Putin had repeatedly demanded that countries pay for their gas with roubles but western countries have refused to do so.

Details of the Russian leader’s decree suggest that he has partially backed down by proposing a compromise mechanism which would allow gas buyers to continue paying for supply in euros and dollars. These will then be converted to roubles by Gazprombank.

It was not clear on Thursday night whether western countries were prepared to go along with the proposal.

Leon Izbicki, a natural gas analyst at Energy Aspects, said: “Our take is that the decree limits the risk of a complete halt to Russian flows. It’s the compromise we have been expecting. It’s a way for both parties to save face.

“On the one hand, Russia can still say that the payments are ultimately going to be in roubles, while simultaneously the European side can say, well, from a technical perspective, payments are still being made in euros and US dollars.”

Mr Putin said that “Russia values its business reputation” and insisted that the country would continue to supply gas to the West if it complied with his demands.