Demand for gas is above seasonal levels due to low temperatures, according to npower’s daily market report.

Alex Guiot from npower’s optimisation desk said: “Temperatures today are closer to the 10-year average but remain a touch below which is contributing to the higher demand levels.”

The gas system has opened 7mcm short.

Norwegian flows via the Langeled pipeline are affected by an outage which has reduced gas flows to the UK.

Mr Guiot said: “Bacton Seal flows are supposed to come back today but at the moment are nominating at 1.2mcm only.”

The UK Interconnector exports increased by around 39mcm from yesterday.

In the power system wind generation is currently above 800MW and is expected to reach 2.5GW this afternoon.

Mr Guiot added: “As a result CCGT is generating over 42% of the stack while coal and nuclear provide 20%. The French and Dutch interconnectors are at full import capacity.”

Oil is trading close to $50 (£32) per barrel.